From my Point of View
by LShbm
Summary: GALES PERSPECTIVE DURING THE HUNGER GAMES! nuff said : rated T! I do not own the wonderful hunger games books. Please review! :DD !
1. Chapter 1

I remember every detail of the 74th hunger games, the games that changed my life for every. Those games changed my life so dramatically, and I didn't even compete. It blows my mind at how much they have changed Katniss' life.

I woke up early on the day of the reaping, like always. "Catnip" and I were hunting. We meet in our usual place. I had traded a squirrel for a loaf of bread and put an arrow in it. "Look what I shot," I said when Katniss showed up. She laughed. I always felt privileged to hear her laugh; she never did it anywhere else but the woods. We laughed about Effie Trinket and how much of an idiot she was. Katniss is looking through some bushes for edible berries when I suggest it. "We could do it you know." Katniss doesn't understand.

"Do what?" she asks.

"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it." she doesn't know how to respond. "If we didn't have so many kids," I add, quickly. Not our kids, of course. Our younger siblings, and out parents. "I never want to have kids," Katniss tells me.

"I might, if I didn't live here." I would want to have kids. I know it.

"But you do live here," she says, irritated.

"Forget it," I snap. She doesn't understand. We fish for the rest of the time, but have to leave earlier than we normally would, because of the reaping. We start to go home, but have to make a few stops first. We go the hob, a black market and trade a little there. Once we finish out business at the hob, we swing by the mayor's back door. His daughter, Madge, answers. "Pretty dress," I tell her. I use a sarcastic tone, wanting to confuse her. But it was a pretty dress, something she would never normally wear.

"Well if I want to go to the capitol I want to look nice, don't I?" Madge says. Now she is messing with me, I can tell. This made me a little angry. "You won't go to the capitol," I tell her, coolly. "What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old."

"That's not her fault," Katniss defends her.

"No it's no one's fault. Just the way is it," I say, which is an outright lie. It is someone's fault. It's the bloody capitols fault. I hated the capitol, so much. I want to get my hands on those colorful, week, tyrants badly. I would make them pay. I wanted a revolution, but I knew the risks of that.

"Good luck Katniss," says Madge, closing me off.

"You too," responds Katniss. We walk back to the seam in silence, Katniss doesn't like how I took a dig at Madge, but she knows I was right. We say out goodbyes and go home to get ready for the reaping.

At one o'clock my family and I walked to the square. None of my sibling's names was in the reaping, they were still too young. But my name was on 42 of those God damned little papers. I spotted Katniss before she saw me. She looked very pretty in one of her mother's old blue dresses, and her hair was done up. I looked away before we made eye contact.

Effie trinket declared that she was going to pull the girls names. Katniss and I made eye contact, both thinking of the others changes. The odds were more in her favor than they were mine; she only had twenty names in there. But that was still more than I was comfortable with her having. However, I couldn't prevent that. Effie pulled the name,

"Primrose Everson!" she shouted.

I knew what Katniss was going to do before she did herself. She gasped, and pushed through the crowd shouting "I volunteer! I volunteer!" I felt like a pullet plundered into my chest, I couldn't have Katniss go to the games. My feet carried me over the front of the stage. Prim was in hysterics behind Catnips back. I grabbed Prim's arm and lifted Katniss onto the stage, "Up you go, Catnip" I said, my voice shaking with emotion. But I would not cry, not now anyway.

My head is swimming around me, my brick wall of self control is about to break. I swallow the lump in my throat and decide to put all my concentration on the stage. Haymitch, the mentor for district 12, is acting up. He is drunk, obviously. Someone whisks him off stage. I am still putting all my effort in concentrating on him that I only have a seconds notice before Effie pulls out the boy's name.

_Let it be me! _I think, passionately. If it is me, I will be able to protect Katniss until the end. She could win if she and I were a team. With me by her side, she would have no doubt of making it home. Effie draws the name. Peeta Mellark.

That marshmallow.

_FUCK! _I scream, inside my head. I only know him because he is in love with Katniss. I see it every time he looks at her. It makes me want to snap his neck in two. That fool could never keep her safe! Yes, he was strong but not in comparison to those other tributes he will be up against.

I could see Katniss wasn't happy either. Why? Because now she wouldn't have a strong ally? Or was there another reason? She and Peeta were not friends, but they were on friendly terms. Did she simply not want to kill him? Or did she have some hidden feelings for him that I never noticed because I was too busy trying not to kill him? Peeta looked like a scared dog walking up on stage. My jaw was set and I was biting the inside of my lip so hard it bled.

Katniss and Peeta are ushered into the Justice building. "If anyone would like to come visit, please walk into the justice building now" Effie says. My body tells me to sprint to the building, but I walk coolly. I hear whispering around me, a volunteer tribute in district 12 is very uncommon. Because the people in district 12 are smart enough to know that being a tribute is basically a death sentence.

I wait as the other visitors go in and see Katniss. I want to be last, for an unexplainable reason. After Katniss' mother and sister leave her, they break down into hysterics. I go and give each of them a hug and they walk out of the building. I am surprised to see the baker, Peeta's father, leave the room with Katniss in it. I hadn't seen him enter. Madge, Katniss' friend, goes in after that. Madge, who I treated rudely this morning. I felt a little bad about that. She leaves the room wiping small tears from her eyes. It is my turn now, I walk in the door.

The sight of Catnip breaks my heart. She is trying so hard to be strong. To anyone else, she would appear to be unfazed by the events, but I knew her too well for that. I hold out my arms and she practically runs to me. I told her for a minute, memorizing her. She smells like the woods, a comforting smell to me. Her mussels are harder than most 16 year old girls', but then, she's tougher than most 16 year old girls. Most girls would crumble if thrown into the situation she has been in, her mother, for example. Katniss was a strong, strong female, and this may be the last time I ever touch her. _NO! _I command myself, if I think that I will lose control.

As much as I would like to, I cannot stand here and hold her forever. I have things to say that she needs to listen to. "Listen," I say, "getting a knife should be pretty easy, but you've got to get your hands on a bow. That's your best chance." Your best chance not to die. But if she could get her hands on a bow and arrow, she might have a good chance at winning.

"They don't always have bows," she says.

"Then make one, even a weak bow is better than no bow at all," I tell her, this would help, but not guarantee a win. She has tried to copy her father's bows, with little success. "I don't even know if there'll be wood," Katniss says.

"There's almost always some wood, since that year half of them died of cold. Not much entertainment in that." that was a terrible year, watching them shiver to death was almost as bad as watching them cut each other's heads off. "Yes, there's usually some," says Katniss.

"Katniss," this is one of the few times I have actually called her by her real name, "It's just hunting. You're the best hunter I know," I tell her, in a gentle tone.

"It's not hunting. They're armed. I think." I could hear the fear in her voice.

"So do you. And you've had more practice. Real practice," I had to make her see sense. She could not be consumed by fear that, which kill her for sure.

"Not people," she says.

"How different can it be, really?" I say, bitterly. I know that if she thinks of the other people as animals, she will be able to kill them, a terrible truth. The peacekeepers come in, and I ask for more time. More time, like forever. They say no and start to pull me out of the door.

"Don't let them starve!" Katniss shrieks after me.

"I won't! You know I won't!" I reassure her. I am screaming now, "and Katniss, remember I-"the door is slammed between us. She will never know what I have to say. I punch the nearby wall at the thought, and the peacekeepers toss me out the front door.


	2. Chapter 2

I walked out of the Justice Building in a daze, a confused hazy daze. I didn't know what to do, but I had to do something. I walked down the white steps and into the street, not paying attention to my surroundings. A screeching noise woke me from my dream land. My eyes narrowed on a car that was plummeted towards me. I tried to sprint away, but it caught part of my leg.

"Damn!" I howled, to myself.

"Kid! Get the fuck out of my way!" the driver stuck his head out the window and screamed. I gave him a deadly stare, and he stuck that stupid little capitol skull back in the car. I walked forward, tentatively. My leg really hurt but I realized what I had to do. Almost being killed reminded me of Katniss. Katniss, and how she was practically a sacrifice.

I had to watch every second of the games. Not knowing what she is doing right now is killing me, even though she is a mere 300 feet away from me. The crazy notion of busting her out crossed my mind, but with all the capitol people here that was not possible. I was going to have to be glued to my television, watching her every move.

I knew that they would be filming her at the train station. But I couldn't go yet, I was going to stay and watch her get in the car. I walked another hundred feet away and stood next to a tree. My leg was really hurting; it had just started to bleed, too. I was starting to examine it when she walked out of the Justice Building. Her head was held high and she didn't make eye contact with anything. In fact, she didn't seem to see anything at all. I wish though that she would look at me, for just a second. But she didn't see me; she was loaded into the car and drove away.

My eyes were threatening to cry, but I pushed it back down. I would not cry until I was alone. Besides, I had a mission.

I turned about and started to race home. My leg was screaming in protest, but I ignored it. The bleeding was starting to have a heavier flow. It was not wise to run with such a serious injury. Getting my blood pumped up only meant that I would lose more of the precocious stuff. I reached home and threw the door open.

"Gale!" my mother exclaimed, I had scared her. She was holding my little sister, Posy on her hip, and bouncing her up and down. The small TV was turned on. I staggered over to a chair and sat down, gasping for air. I clutched my stomach, trying to get my bearings on what was playing on the TV.

"What happened to your leg?" my mother demanded, horrified. "Take your pants off!" she ordered me. Normally I would have protested, saying was fine. But today I was too absorbed in watching the television to care. I struggled to pull the pants off, but I managed. My mother widened her eyes, she didn't expect me stripping in front of her. I didn't have anything to hide though, I was in good shape. Excellent, actually. Besides I was wearing shorts under my pants, a special thing for reaping day.

Posy giggled at me, but her eyes widened and her tiny mouth formed an 'o' when she saw me leg. She started to sniffle, about to cry. My mother bounced her up and down even more, trying to distract her. "RORY!" my mother calls. He runs into the room and takes a look around.

"What happened to gale?" he started at the leg. At first he seemed disgusted, than awed. Typical twelve year old boy. "I'm not sure, take your sister!" my mother commanded. Rory started to whine, but my mother gave him a quieting look. All this was distracting me from the television, I wished they would just shut up!

The announcers were showing recaps of district 12's reaping. I saw Katniss walk bravely forward, and Prim in hysterics behind her. I saw myself help Katniss up onto the stage. I bit my lip so hard it bled. I already knew all of this, I wanted to see how she was _now_, not how she was an hour ago. Was it really that? Only an hour ago?

My mother shook her head and got down to business. She kneeled down next to my leg and touched my thigh. "Gale what happened?" she whispered.

"Car" I grunted.

"Does it hurt?" she asks. It does really hurt, it's defiantly in the top five worst injuries I have received. The blood is starting to gush all over the floor. "I'm fine" I whisper. I'm scared that if I speak to loudly, my voice will crack in pain.

"We have to go to Mrs. Everdeen!"

"No! Mom, not yet. Wait for just a minute…" I watch, desperately, waiting for Katniss face to show up on screen. "Gale, you're going to bleed to death! We have to get have to get help!" she was right, my leg was bleeding an awful lot. But I just had to see Katniss, I just had too…

I was considering letting my mother take me to Mrs. Everdeen when the TV flashed pictures of her getting onto the train. She looked excellent in comparison to Peeta, he had been crying. Katniss merely looked bored.

Why was Peeta letting his emotions show? In the past appearing meek and mild was a survival strategy, and tributes had won by doing so. But it would take a lot of crying, and a lot of whining to convince everyone that Peeta was meek. He was too large for that. Besides, those people who used the crybaby strategy usually never got sponsors, so they had to know how to survive in the wilderness. I doubted that Peeta had any experience doing that.

They boarded the train and I allowed my mother to help me up. I had bled so much that I was a little lightheaded. I staggered when I stood up. "You can't walk, I'll go send Vick to get Mrs. Everdeen." I nodded. I started to fall down. Before I hit the ground I saw what a big puddle of blood I had made. _Nobody can survive that much blood, _crossed my mind. The last thing I remember was my mother standing over me, watching me close my eyes in peaceful slumber.

***

I woke up several hours later on the kitchen table. My head was spinning, and I felt like I was going to throw up. I took a shaky breath and tried to sit up. My brain pounded into my skull and I had to put my head back down. I unintentionally moaned. "He's awake!" I heard a familiar voice exclaim. I was trying to place the voice when I slipped back into sleep.

***

I drifted in and out of sleep for a long time. I don't remember anything, except my dreams, nothing real though. An immeasurable amount of time later I woke up, with my eyes wide and brain alert. Physically I still felt crappy, but mentally I was back to myself. I tried to sit up, with success. My mother was bundled up with her head lying next to my shoulder. I'm sure she fell asleep watching me.

My mother looked so much younger when she was asleep. But it was more than that, she looked less worn down by the world. She looked like she hadn't experienced so much. She looked more innocent, more vulnerable.

My mother was like me in many ways. She was serious, she didn't laugh often but when she did, she did it with feeling. She believed the world could change for the better, if it really wanted to. I got my sweet side from my mother, my fiery defiant side from my father.

My father raised me to have a burning hatred for the capitol. Well, not really _raised. _But he was the biggest part in the initial beginning of my hatred; he was the influence that chose my side before I could form my own taught me to be a bit of a rebel, though he did the unintentionally. The truth was, I loved my father very much and watched him pretty closely. He was an idol to me. I had noticed how my father would make small comments or symbols of dislike. I heard him say the world 'rebellion' more times than I had heard the rest of the world say it _total. _

One day in school I had been making a scene, something I try to avoid. But a kid had been shooting his mouth off, it made me angry and we got into a fight. The teacher slit us apart, we both got into trouble and a lecture on behavior. At the very end of my lecture the teacher – who had been teaching the school for over fifty years – muttered "you are so much like your father… he was always getting into trouble too…" my chest swelled with pride, I was exuberant for the rest of the day. I wasn't even scared to go home and tell my mother about the fight and the trouble I was in.

The truth was losing my father was the hardest thing I have ever had to face, Katniss going to the hunger games, being the next hardest. Finding out he was dead was like a bullet through my heart, as was hearing Katniss' name called. I had never imagined him dead, never even considered it. I tried to be brave for my family, I didn't cry in front of them, I tried to comfort them but I was unsuccessful.

The day after he died I didn't know what to do, but I had to do something. I decided to take a walk around the district, maybe looking for some work. I was near the fence that opens out into the woods, when it hit me like a ton of bricks, not that I have been near a brick, they're expensive.

I realized that I could hunt, I could feed my family! I was elated, reborn almost. I knew what my purpose in life was and who I was. I woke up early the next morning and went hunting. I soon discover that snares are kind of like a second nature to me, even more so now than they were when I first started hunting. I only brought home one piece of game that day, but I knew what I had to do. Setting up snares all around the big woods was hard work, but it made me stronger, both emotionally and physically. I continuously brought home more and more food, eventually I started getting enough to trade the hob. My only disadvantage was lack of a proper weapon. I had been trying to make spears or throw knives, but none of those worked. My best bet was to set up a snare, catch an animal, and then kill it with a knife.

My mother was just as strong – if not stronger, given her condition – when my father died. She was about to go into labor any day, she and my father were genuinely excited about the baby, even if it meant another mouth to feed. She had the baby a week after the explosion that killed my father, a week later she was out looking for work. Not many places would hire her, but she found a source of money in doing laundry. She worked her fingers to the bone, literally. She would have her hands submerged in water forty percent of the day, and they would always be cracked and dry, sometimes bleeding. It was especially bad in winter.

I always admired her courage, she was a very strong women. She never cried in front of my little brothers either, though I heard her do so at night. She was brave for them, as was I. they didn't really understand, but they understood enough. She never considered giving up, like Katniss' mother had. I never liked that about her, how Katniss' mother had practically abandon her family when they needed her most.

Seeing my mom lying there makes me think of what life would be like if my father had not died. I would never be in this situation. I would never have met Katniss and never have cared about her entering the hunger games. I never would have sprinted a mile on a bleeding leg and almost bleed to death. But the consequences of my father's death go deeper than that. However, I decided not to think about that right now.

"Mom," I whispered, "mom!" she jerked awake.

"Gale!" she let out a moan of relief, "I was so worried! What were you thinking? You almost killed yourself!" I hung my head.

"I'm sorry" I muttered. My mother pulled me into a hug, I stifled a groan. My head still felt slightly dizzy from lack of blood, but I was okay. "Can I move?" I asked, the kitchen table was not very comfortable. My mother nodded. "Katniss will be on TV again tonight," she said quietly.

"What?" I asked, frantic, "how long was I asleep? What did I miss? They haven't started the games yet, have they?"

"Shh," my mother soothed, "no, no. you were only asleep a day. She's being presented tonight, with the other tributes. It starts in an hour. I'm guessing right now she's probably having last minute touch ups on her outfit."

I calmed down, only to start panicking again when I thought of what those capitol idiots might make her wear. I took a few deep breaths, knowing these hunger games were messing me up. I was never one to panic without a good reason. For all I knew she could be wearing something great, though the possibility of that was slim.

"Gale why don't you eat something then we'll watch the games?" my mother asked, kindly. I accepted and started chewing a piece of squirrel she handed me. I hoped that Katniss wouldn't look like a fool, I don't think I could handle my temper if I saw her walking naked around the capitol naked and covered in coal dust.

* * *

_hey guys. thanks for reviewing ! it means a lot to me (: i really shouldn't be writing this story, as i have two other stories in progress. But i read the Hunger Game books and i had to do something for them, it just couldn't wait for my other stories to be done. I had to re upload/submit this chapter because it had some factual errors in it, and we cant have that can we? ;) anyway, i dont know how soon the next chapter will be up (like i said, 2 other stories in the works and I'm a full time student) but defiantly keeps your eyes up for it ! :DD _


	3. Chapter 3

A knock on the door interrupted my violent and graphic thoughts of what I would like to do to the capitol if something happened to Katniss. Rory ran to open it.

"Hi!" he chirped.

"Hello, Rory," Mrs. Everdeen responded. Her eyes were puffy, she had been crying. "Hazelle, would it be alright if we watched the games with you?"

"Of course, honey" My mother said, and went up to give Mrs. Everdeen a hug. Prim walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my waste. I bend my knees to meet her at eye level. I lift up her chin with two of my fingers and a thumb.

"Hey sport, I see you haven't been crying," I say, gently. Her eyes were not red of puffy at all. She shakes her head. "Why's that?"

"I did a little… but now I can't. I'm too worried," she tells me.

"That's okay, tears will come," I ruffle her hair. She buries her head back into my stomach.

Everyone stands around and tries to chit chat, but chatting is hard when someone you love is about to parade around in front of the whole country wearing who knows what. Finally it's time to watch the TV.

My heartbeat is quickening, even though I act cool. I know that if I start to panic, everyone will lose it. That's the way it always is, and always will be. Katniss and I were the calm ones, we kept everyone else rational. But now that Katniss has been taken away, I have to remain calm. The only situation I can think of that I will lose it completely, is if I have to see Katniss be eaten alive or something even more tortuous than that.

The first of the tributes are coming out on their chariots. The district one tributes don't even seem to acknowledge each other, same goes for the rest of the tributes. I pay close attention to their faces and figures. The careers look extra tough this year, especially district two. I think the male tribute from two is huge until I see the male tribute from district eight. He's a giant! My mouth pops open but I close it quickly. I don't think anyone saw my shock, I have to make it seem like I think Katniss could take down any of them.

There's something about the boy from eight, though. The female tribute is puny, almost Prim's size. The boy - Thresh, I hear the commentators call him – looks down at her protectively. I'm sure that's not the case, but that's what it looks like. The girl's glances back up, but looks down before any emotion shows. My guess is that they knew each other and are a little upset about having to kill one another.

Finally, its District Twelve's turn, I can hear my heart beating in my ear. I start to rub my hands together. The big doors open, and there they are.

She's exquisite.

She's on fire… but she isn't. Her costume is. They have made her a living flame. The fire aluminates her features, beautifully and her hair is under a big headdress, also on fire. She's wearing skin tight leotard and a cape. I can't take my eyes off her. Her smile was glowing breathtaking. Breathtaking… that was a good word for Katniss. I wish I had her here with me, right now.

An intake of air comes to everyone in the room. Everyone is whispering their approval; they all think she looks incredible.

"She looks phenomenal …" I whisper.

My eyes perused her entire body. I lingered on her hand for a minute, something was unsettling about it. Then I realized what it was.

She was holding Peeta's hand! Why the _hell _was she holding his hand? A rush of jealously shot through me, but I hardly even had time to acknowledge it before my brain started speaking.

_She doesn't like Peeta_, it told me, _it's an act! _For some reason, Haymitch wants Katniss and Peeta to look like a team.

"Why is she holding his hand…?" I hear a few people in the room act. _That's awfully cruel of Haymitch, _I think. They're just going to have to kill each other, why make them seem like friends?

Katniss and Peeta are making a huge hit. I don't think I have seen the Capitol crowd so excited in years, if not all my life. They are getting much more camera time then they ought to, but that's okay. It's about time District 12 gets some glory. The crowd even begins to chant their name.

Even when President Snow makes his speech the cameras spend a lot of time on Katniss and Peeta. I'm not annoyed that Katniss and Peeta are holding hands, now that I know the motive. Now that I know there is nothing real behind it, at least for Katniss. But for Peeta… that makes me a little worried.

The chariots start to pull into the training center and soon they are all gone. "Wow," Prim says. Everyone else agrees.

"Katniss looked beautiful," my mother said. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen stayed to have some tea and went home. My brothers got dressed in their pajamas and climbed into bed. I also undressed and went to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I stared out the window for an immeasurable amount of time, thinking about Katniss.

Tonight was the first night I had any time alone since the reaping. Now is the time to cry, but the tears never come. I felt to hallow to cry. I wonder what Katniss is doing right now. Tomorrow is her first day of training, I hope she does well. I hope she doesn't shot arrows in front of the other tributes. I don't want them to know her talent just yet, I think if they knew how good she was they would kill her right away. She'll have to shoot for her private session with the game makers though, of course.

Its sometime after midnight, I can tell by the moon's position, when I finally fall asleep. My last thought is of holding Katniss when I got to say goodbye to her before the games.

***

Where am I? _I think. I am in the woods outside district twelve, I know that immediately. I start to walk forward, looking for a way home when I hear voices. My hunter instincts guide me up the nearest tree. _

_Two people, a boy and a girl, walk underneath me. They look almost like siblings, they both have olive skin, dark hair, and gray eyes. The boy looks a few years older than the girl. They are carrying weapons, they are hunters like me. _

Who are they? _I think . I decide to follow them, to find out more about the mysterious couple hunting in my woods. I follow them until the girl stops to look for some berries. The boy is looking at her longingly, he takes a breath and speaks, "We could do it you know."_

_The girl seems confused, "Do what?" she asks. _

"_Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," he says. She doesn't know how to respond. "If we didn't have so many kids," the boy adds, quickly_. Kids, _I think_, they're too young to have kids.

_The girl changes the subject, "I never want to have kids." _What? I though she just said they have too many kids! They must be talking about other kids…

"_I would, if I didn't live here." The boy says. _

"_But you do live here," the girl reminds him, irritated._

"_Forget it!" he snaps. _

_That's the end of the conversation. I decide to keep following them. I am entranced by the unusual pair, they seem so familiar to me. They leave the woods sooner than I would have, it is a nice day out, after all. I wonder if I can follow them more, I decide to risk it. They don't know me after all, I could just say I'm lost if they see me. _

_They climb under the fence that separates the district from the woods. I'm about to follow them under, when suddenly I'm on the other side of the fence, too, right in front of the boys face. I try to speak to him, but no words come out. He doesn't seem to see me either. _I'm invisible? _I think. I must be, but I don't question how I came to be invisible, I just follow. _

_Now that I know they can't see me I trail along as close as I can. First they go to the hob and trade off some things. Then they go to a girl's house, and the boy makes a few curt comments to the girl inside. She responds in the same manor. The other girl doesn't like how they are treating each other, but doesn't do much about it. _

_They walk back to the seam and split up. The boy is still in an irritable mood. _Who should I follow? _I think. I'm about to go after the boy when I turn around and see a stage with chairs being set up. What's going on? I watch as people file into the square. _

_I locate the boy and the girl quickly. They are not standing together, I wonder why. They seemed so close. I realize that they separated into some type of groups, they are in assigned spots. They wave at each other. The girls look up to the stage, where I am standing, and then looks back at the boy. He meets her eyes. I don't understand the look they exchange, they look worried for each other. But why would they be worried? _

_A woman with ridiculous pink hair steps up on the stage. She announces that it is the hunger games. The _Hunger Games? What's that?_ The woman puts her hand in a big metal ball filled with tiny slips of paper. She pulls a name. "Primrose Everdeen!" she shouts. _

_The girl panics. She pushes through the crowd, fighting to get to the stage and shouting that she will volunteer. The boy shows up next to her, extreme pain evident in his eyes. _

_It's killing him to watch her step up on that stage. _

"_VOLUNTEER YOU FOOL!" I shout, but no words come out. I sprint up to him and try to grab his shoulders and slap some sense into him. But my hands can't grab him. Why doesn't he volunteer?? Why isn't he willing to sacrifice himself to keep her safe?? Is he too selfish to give up his own life for this girl?? What's wrong with him??_

_I'm screaming obscenities at the boy when the world shifts. Suddenly I'm in the woods. But these woods are not like my woods; these woods are dark, sinister. I see the girl. _

_She is running for her life. She is terrified. Something must be chasing her. I can hear something running behind her, catching up to her. She turns a corner around a tree and a big male with a dark face jumps out. He stabs her in her gut. _

_She collapses. _

"_NOOO!" I scream, my voice actually coming out this time. _

_The thing running behind her catches up. It is another male with a blacked out face that I can't see. They stab her repeatedly with spears. The male behind the tree bends down and starts to scratch her face off. They tear of big chunks of skin and stuff them in their hungry mouths. Her blood is dripping down their faces. _

_They turn towards me. "No!" I whisper. But I'm too late. They grab me by my shoulder and start to shake me. The running boy gets an evil smile on his face, and her sticks his hand on Katniss' face, holding her blood in the cup of his hand. He walks over to me and smears it on my forehead. I try to bite him, but he dodges me easily. The tree boy is still shaking me. One of them grabs a spear and points it at my stomach. They count to three and I wait for the impact. It hits me._

_All the air leaves my lungs my stomach folding in two. "AGH!" I scream. _

BANG! My head collided with my mothers. "GALE!" she exclaims.

I am sitting in my bed, panting with a puddle of sweat around me. I notice I am clutching my stomach. "What?" I ask, breathing heavily.

"You were screaming! I came in and tried to shake you awake, but nothing happened! I decided that maybe you were sick; you were burning up after all, and got a wet rag. But it didn't help! Rory just jumped on your stomach when you flew up! You just hit me in the head… honey are you alright?" my mother said, she looks worried sick. My other brother, Vick, is staring at me from his bed. His eyes are wide with fright.

"I'm fine. Bad dream…" I shake it off. "Why did Rory jump on me?" I exclaim, weakly. It's a small attempt at a bit of comic relief.

"I have no idea! He ran out after! RORY!" my mother roars and starts to leave the room, searching for my brother. Before she leaves she turns, "You're sure you're alright? You don't need anything?" I shake my head. "Alright…" she says. She comes back over to kiss me on the forehead before she leaves the bedroom to go scold Rory.

I'm still panting. I get up and take my shirt off, I'm sweating too much. "Just a bad dream…" I tell myself. "Cannibalism isn't allowed…"

I get back in bed but sleep never comes. I'm far too worried and wound up. I decide to start hunting early. It's Sunday, so I will have the entire day to be alone in the woods. I tiptoe out of my bedroom, careful not to wake Vick, who had fallen back asleep after my screaming fit. I can't believe I had a nightmare! If I wasn't so upset I would be humiliated.

I get dressed and pull on my boots. As I pull on my pants I am careful not to mess up the carefully wrapped bandage around my leg. It is still a relatively new wound after all, and I have to be careful with it when I hunt. I grab my bag on the way out the back door. The morning air refreshes me. I take in a lungful and let it out slowly. It also helps me to rid the terrible images of my nightmare and clear my head.

The nightmare… it was so realistic. So, so realistic…

I am so preoccupied with my dream I let three good rabbits pass me without taking a shot at them. I hold up my arms to be ready for the next one when I see I don't even have a bow. I walk back to the tree line nearest the fence and pull one out of the tree I store my weapons in. I decide to walk my snare route. It needs to be done and I'm not able to concentrate on anything.

I set out on my route and an hour later I realize I have not checked a single snare. This has to stop; I have to clear my head. I scale the nearest tree and sit down in on one of the thicker branches. I start to contemplate my dream.

Why didn't I volunteer to save Katniss? I could have kept her far safer than Peeta. I could have guaranteed her a ride home, a ride back to district twelve. Did I not volunteer because I am that selfish? No, I don't think so. It didn't even cross my mind to volunteer during the reaping. Anyway my family (and Katniss' family) needs me to feed them. Although, the longest the games have ever lasted is three months and that was during the second Quarter Quill when they had twice as many tributes. The capitol doesn't like the games to drag on.

I figure that the games will last a month, tops. So, realistically I could have volunteered and had Katniss home before my family shriveled away to nothing. The Hob would donate enough food to keep them running for that length of time, though they wouldn't be as well feed as normal.

Now, watching Katniss die might just kill me too. I don't know how I'm going to do it. I will just have to watch her like she is any other old contestant. It doesn't hurt me to watch them die. Infuriate me and sicken me, yes. But it doesn't hurt me.

I hope out of the tree and retrace my steps to check the snares. I walk the rest of the snare route and come out with several nice animals. I go to the hob and trade, earning myself several pitiful stares and pats on the back. I hate being pitied! I do my trading and leave as fast as I can.

The next few days drag on like this. I wake up, go to school, go hunting, go to the hob, go bed, and have nightmares. The entire time I am thinking of the games and of Katniss. I have never been this disoriented in my life.

I wait in anticipation for the night of the training scores to become public. Finally, it arrives. The Everdeen's are over at my house again, I have a feeling I will be watching most of the games with them. The faces of all the tributes flash with a number. I pay extra close attention to the careers and the two stand out tributes from 8. The careers get high scores, eights and nines. The giant boy from eight earns himself an eight; I wonder if the careers included him in their club. He would be perfect for it. The little girl got a seven. A seven! I wonder how she managed that…

I start to jiggle my foot as the tributes from eleven's scores go up. I don't care about them; I just want to see twelve. Peeta's face flashes on my television screen, he earned a seven. _Not too bad,_ I muse, I didn't think he had any skill. Katniss face appears, I hold my breath. A white number flashed beneath her face.

Eleven!

The families jump up. "She earned an eleven!" everyone is shouting praises at her. I stay seated in my chair, bursting with pride. I grin at her picture and whisper, almost to myself, "There's some room for improvement there, Catnip."

Prim pulls me up into a hug. Once I hug Prim everyone else starts to pull me in. I hug back, but I'm reserved. My chest is bursting I am so happy.

I can't believe it! An eleven is one of the best scores in history, only a few tributes have ever gotten one! She must have done some excellent shooting! I can't think of anything else she would have done to earn herself an eleven!

I climb into bed that night much more relaxed than I have been since the games started. Of course, I know that's only temporary. Tomorrow is the public interviews and I'm sure to be worried about that. But for now, I let myself sleep with the comfort that Katniss just pulled off one of the top training scores in history.

***

I wake up and go to school. More people are talking to me now that Katniss has gone to the games. They seem to think I need their friendship and support, but I don't. I need to be left alone. I need Katniss to come home.

I cut my hunting trip short that day, to guarantee that I get home in time for the interviews. They start at eight o'clock sharp and I would normally have plenty of time, but I'm being extra careful. My family and the Everdeen's want to watch the interviews out in the square, for support. I don't mind watching the games in the square but today I know if I show up I will get those pity stares I loathe so much.

My brothers beg me to come with them, but I decline. I don't want those sad looks! Like I need that! Like it helps the situation! Something those idiots could do is poll all their spare pennies and send them to Haymitch to buy Katniss something. I bite my lip; I know the people from district twelve do not have any money to spare.

Half an hour before the interviews air I decide to go watch in the square. However, I will not be in the crowd, I will climb up on the roof of a building and watch from there. That way I will be unseen, but I will still be able to see the crowd's reaction.

Normally district twelve is very laid back about the games. They just want the games to be over with. But this year, especially the people from the seam, are a little more rowdy. They know Katniss is very able with a bow and arrow. Everyone wants to see how she will act on camera, I know I do. But I also want to know if she will win the crowd's support, that's why I'm going to the square.

I hop on a fence and scale a tall building to sit and wait. A huge television screen that had been set up for the games flickered to life. The crowd started to shush each other. A woman dressed in a metallic emerald green suit stood on the screen with a microphone in her hand.

"Good evening, Panem!" she said in a chipper tone. The games were a time of celebration for her, a time of extreme entertainment. She made me sick.

"As I speak the tributes are lining up for their live interviews with Caesar Flickerman! This is me, Esmeralda Emhart, turning you over to the famous Caesar!"

I bite my tong, filled with anxiety. Katniss is great when I am around her, but people aren't her thing. I hope Caesar can put some positive spin on her.

The screen switches to a big balcony, hanging on the Training Center. There is elevated seating for the stylists, gamemakers, and other special people in the capitol. Other balcony's around the capitol are dominated by camera crews.

The crowd cheers and a wall opens upward. The tributes from each district are lined up, boys next to girls. All the tributes look nice. The girl from district one is especially eye catching; even I have to admit she looks… sexy, though I hate her without question. The tributes file out and my eyes search for Katniss. I find her.

She looks, if that's even possible, more beautiful now than she did the night she had to parade around the capitol on fire. She looks like a living flame; every movement of her sends the body hugging dress into ripples, giving the realistic impression that she is being engulfed in flames. The dress, it seems, is made of tiny gems, red and yellow with bits of white and blue, the colors of fire. She's wearing heels; I bet she spent hours trying to learn how to walk in them. I hope she doesn't fall.

Her hair has strands of red woven all through it and falls into a braid on her left shoulder. Her body has flames stenciled all over it, her fingernails and toenails included. Her face has been erased in a pale makeup and redrawn, dramatically. I don't particularly like that; I would like to see her actual face. The crowd in the town square lets out oohs and ahs.

Caesar walks out in his famous sparkly blue suit. Every year he dies his hair a different color, this year it is powder blue. He looks exactly the same as he always has. But he has had many a sugary to keep himself looking young, not unlike most of the capitol.

"Greetings!" he shouts over the crowd. He makes a few small jokes before saying, "Enough of that, how about we meet our tributes?"

All the interviews go flawlessly, all the tributes play their parts; Sexy, funny, hostile, friendly, and lethal. It's all there. The tributes from two are both killing machines, the red headed girl from five is sneaky and sly, the crippled boy from ten is quite, and the monstrously large boy from eleven is very hostile, only answering questions with a "yes," or, "No." the girl from eleven, Rue, is sweet and when asks how she managed to score a seven in training says, "Oh, I'm very hard to catch," with a grin.

Its Katniss turn and I can see her nervousness written all over her face. I hope it's not that apparent to everyone else. She glides over to Caesar - my worries about her tripping disappear - and shakes his hand.

"So Katniss," Caesar says, "the Capitol must quite a change from district twelve. What's impressed you the most since you arrived here?" Katniss eyes momentarily sweep the stylists row, she seems to find what she was looking for and answers,

"The lamb stew." I chuckle, that was defiantly the best thing she could say about the Capitol, at least I hope it was. Some of the audience is laughing along with Caesar. District twelve nods in agreement.

"The one with the dried plums? Oh, I eat it by the bucketful!" Caesar turns to the audience, a mask of horror on his face, "It doesn't show, does it?" they all shout reassurance at him. This is a good example of how Caesar always tries to help the nervous tributes he interviews.

"Now Katniss," he says in all seriousness now, "when you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think if that costume?" Katniss looks back out at the stylists; she must have a connection with hers, or at least a good enough relationship to turn to him for confidence.

"You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive?" the audience gives a big laugh. _Silly Katniss, _I think, _the capitol would never burn you in the opening ceremonies, they want to see you die in a much more painful and graphic way. _

"Yes, start then," Caesar laughs.

"I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I'd ever seen and I couldn't believe I was wearing it. I can't believe I'm wearing this either!" she holds up her skirt and spreads it out, "I mean look at it!" the audience _oohs _and _ahs. _They think they're in heaven now, watching a gorgeous girl show off her dress. When she starts to spin, they don't know what it them.

Nor do I.

Who is this girl that looks like Katniss? She's been at the capitol less than a week and they've already turned her into some week fluffy piece of nothing! She is going to get absolutely no sponsors this way. None, at all. I want to throw up.

She finally stops and Caesar exclaims, "Don't stop!" she grins and starts spinning again. The audience breaks out into cheers. She has to clutch Caesar's arm when she finally stops.

"Don't stop!" he says again.

"I have to! I'm dizzy!" she giggles.

Katniss just giggled. I want to punch someone in the face. Katniss has _never _giggled in her entire lifetime! Now she just looks like some ditzy girl who probably did a strip tease to impress the Gamemakers. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit too critical. But if it wasn't for that eleven in training… she would be in some deep crap.

"Don't worry, I've got you. Can't have you following in your mentor's footsteps." The crowds start to hoot at the good natured teasing towards Haymitch. The cameras focus on him and he waves them away good naturedly, pointing them back towards Katniss.

"It's all right, she's safe with me," Caesar reassures the crowd. "So, how about the training score. E-le-ven. Give us a hint, what happened in there?" yes, Katniss. Please, stops twirling around like an idiot and get down to serious stuff.

Katniss looks at the Gamemakers balcony and bites her lip. "Um… all I can say is I think it was a first." the camera closes up on the gamemakers, who are snickering and nodding. Hmmm, I wonder what she did. It must have been pretty remarkable if it was a first.

"You're killing us, details! Details!" Caesar begs, as if in actual pain. Oh Caesar, my friend, you have no idea what actual pain is.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?" Katniss addresses the balcony.

"She's not!" shouts a Gamemaker.

"Thank you. Sorry, my lips are sealed." She seems relieved. The notion that she did something really gutsy dawns on me as I see her lips sucked in around her mouth, a sign a she is feeling guilty.

"Let's go back to the moment they called your sisters name at the reaping," Caesar changes the subject. He is quieter now, a sign of respect, "and you volunteered. Can you tell us about her?"

I know Katniss does not want to tell the world about her sister. But somehow she looks back at her stylist and answers, "Her name's Prim. She's just twelve. And I love her more than anything."

Down in the district twelve square I see people placing their hands on Prim's shoulders. She is biting her lip so hard I think it might be bleeding. Prim feels guilty about Katniss being in the games, she feels awful. She's been clutching her stomach even since they started, I know that feeling. The guilt is building up in her.

_It should! It's her fault! _The evil though consumes my mind before I have time to repress it. My mouth drops and I battle the though away, I never want to think that again. That is so wrong. It's not Prim's fault, it's the capitol. It's not Prim's fault at all! No, no, no…

I am so disgusted at myself I almost miss Caesar's next question, "what did she say to you? After the reaping?"

She swallows, "she asked me to try really hard to win." The capitol is on edge, hanging onto every word.

"And what did you say?" Prompts Caesar.

Katniss body tenses. It may not be apparent to everyone, but to me it's as plain as day. It's what she does before she's about to kill. "I swore I would."

"I bet you did," says Caesar, giving her a squeeze. A buzzer goes off, "Sorry we're out of time! Best luck, Katniss Everdeen, tribute from District Twelve."

She did excellent (other than the twirling). She audience loved her at least, which means the sponsors much love her too. everyone cheers long after she's seated again. The crowd in twelve gives her a hearty round of applause, and a few hoots.

Peeta's interview is next, he plays it well. He is charming and funny, he really gets the audience laughing. He plays the bakers son thing by comparing the other tributes to types of breads. He has a funny anecdote about the perils of the capitol showers and really gets the audience going by starting a sniffing run between himself and Caesar. Caesar and Peeta make an excellent team.

I'm really starting to hate how nice Peeta is. I would love to hate him in peace of mind, knowing that's he's a jerk. But he's so damn friendly I'm finding that hard…

I'm getting so tired of Peeta being pleasant I'm about to slid off the roof and go home when I hear Caesar ask if Peeta has a girlfriend. It sparks my interest because I have known he has a thing for Katniss. Everyone with eyes knows he has a thing for Katniss, excluding maybe Katniss herself.

Peeta hesitates and gives an unconvincing shake of the head. "Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" urges Caesar.

I feel like I have just fallen off the roof and hit the ground flat on my back. I can't inhale properly, if at all. That 'special girl' is Katniss. But Caesar can't know that.

Peeta sighs, "Well, there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping."

Sympathetic noises emerge from the capitol crowd. "don't ask for a name… _please_…. _Please_!… don't ask for a name!" I beg Caesar under my breath. Some of Peeta's friends, down in the square, are giving each other scared glances. So they know how disastrous this could become too.

"She have another fellow?" Caesar asks.

"I don't know, a lot of boys like her," says Peeta. That's true, she doesn't notice any of it though. I've always wondered why that is, all her time in the woods have made her very observant.

"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" Caesar encourages.

"no… no, Peeta!" I beg. I'm on my hands and knees now, in a dangerously close place to the edge of the roof.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning… won't help in my case." Some of the smarter people in the capitol audience are starting to get a drift of what he is saying. Though, smart people in the capitol are far and few. District twelve has already caught on, or most of us have, anyway.

"Why ever not?" Says Caesar, baffled.

Peeta's face turns blood red – ha, how ironic? He face is turning blood red, and in a matter of time his face will be covered in red blood! – "because… because…" he stammers, I'm almost leaning off the edge of the roof now.

"Because she came here with me," he chokes out.

"no!" I growl. I lift up my hands to my face before I realize the consequences of that. I have hardly a moment to grab onto something when I slip off the roof. I do, luckily enough, grab a hold of the gutter and hang on for dear life. This roof is at least fifty feet up. "Shit!" I yell.

What am I going to do? I don't know if I can pull myself up, I'm strong, but I don't know if I'm that strong. If I drop there is a very good chance I might die, and if I don't die every bone in my body will be broken. This, to me, seems almost as bad as dying.

I look down to the square, panicked, and realize that no one has seen me. My eyes glance over the giant TV screen and I see Katniss face, it makes me momentarily forget that I could fall to my death. She won't make eye contact with the camera and a blush is growing around her cheeks. When Peeta comes to sit back down she doesn't make eye contact with him either, I don't know if she could even if she tried. She is humiliated; I can read it in her eyes when they flicker up to the camera for half a second.

"Oh, that's a bad piece of luck," says Caesar, sympathetically. _Duh, _I think, automatically.

"It's not good," Peeta agrees.

"Well, I don't think any of us can blame you. It'd be hard not to fall for that young lady," _It is Caesar, _I think; _you have no idea how many guys are in love with her. _

"She doesn't know?" he asks Peeta.

"Not until now."

"Wouldn't you love to pull her back out here and get a response?" Caesars voice is bursting with opportunity. "Sadly, rules are rules, and Katniss Everdeen's time has been spent. Well, best of luck to you, Peeta Mellark, and I think I speak for all of Panem when I say out hearts go with yours."

You bet they will. The crowd in the capitol is deafening. The TV shows flashes of all the tributes again, but now that the interviews are over, I have more important things to worry about. For example, how I am going to get off this roof without killing myself.

I notice a tree, about fifteen feet to my left. I might be able to shimmy over so I can be hanging above the tree and fall into it. I might still break something, but the damage would not be nearly as bad. I try to scoot my hand over a few inches, but when I did my other hand slipping. I grabbed the gutter again quickly, exhaling slowly and shakily. "That didn't work…" I muttered to myself.

I evaluated my possibilities of being able to pull myself up. I had to, that was my only option. I can't slide over to the tree, I can't swing over to the tree, and I defiantly can't let myself drop from this height. I take a deep, long breath. I have to pull myself up.

"Uhh…" I moan as I try to lift myself up with my arms. _I'm doing it! _I think joyously. I try to swing my leg around when I slip. My leg fell off the gutter and I have a moment of free fall before my arms stop me. Horrible pain volts through my right shoulder. I know that feeling, I just dislocated my arm.

I am cussing – terribly – under my breath now, as I realize that I if I don't get up soon my arm is not going to be able to hold me. I don't think about how much pain is about to be jolting through my arm as I try to pull myself up, once again. This time I have to make it up, or else I won't be able to try again. I am in too much pain and I am straining myself to much to make a noise. I squint my eyes and am starting to breathe heavily when I swing my foot around.

I hold my breath, waiting to feel if it hits the pipe. It does, and I let out a sigh of relief. That's when I know I am going be okay. I twist my leg around so I can kneel on it and push myself up on the roof. I get both hands up and scurried over to the top of the roof. I do not rest to catch my breath until I slid over to the area where the roof is low, where the fence that leads me back to the safety of the ground is.

When I get to the roof over the fence I realize that I might have to dangle down on my arms to reach the fence. I could jump, but I would have to brace myself with my arms when I hit the ground. The fence is low enough to swing my leg up on the roof when I am standing on it, but I am not comfortable with stretching down towards the ground with my butt on the roof. I decide that jumping is safer than dislocating my arm further by dangling down.

_BAM!_ I hit the ground with more force that I expected, but I catch myself mainly with my left arm. I collapse on the ground, relieve that I am still alive. I sit down and catch my breath for a few minutes before I gather the courage to look at my arm.

Katniss and I are exactly the same in the sense that neither of us can stand anything to do with medicine or physical problems. I am not scared of being mauled and attack my anything but I am terrified to look at my arm. I am not a scared person either. True, I was scared when I was hanging off the roof, but everyone is scared when they are fifty feet away from doom.

I gather the courage to look at my shoulder. It is worse than I expected. The bone is sticking out with the skin. I have to gulp down on my gag reflex.

I need to go to Mrs. Everdeen right away. I stand up gingerly, even though the injury is in my shoulder. I walk a few steps forward and then break into a jog. I run a few feet then have to stop because the motion of running is killing my shoulder. I grab my elbow joint with my other hand to keep it from swinging back and forth.

I make my way slowly back to the seam, thinking the whole way that if Katniss had not gone to the games, none of the injuries I have sustained over the past few days would have ever happened.

* * *

_Okay, this chapter is kind of like a peace offering. :/ it's a peace offering to you, my wonderful readers, because I don't know when I will be able to update again and it's been years since I last updated. I'm sorry! I'm trying! But I hope this chapter will sustain you for a long enough time (its two chapters combined – almost 7,000 words!) so please, I am sorry, but read and review! _


	4. Chapter 4

I hobbled down the road to the seam, trying not to move my arm. My eyes were watering up, not in pain but in the effort I was exerting trying to keep my arm steady. I arrived at the Everdeen's house before they did, and went inside to wait. I tried to think about anything but my arm, which worked surprisingly well. I had a lot to think about after the interviews. I started to dissect them, word for word, when Mrs. Everdeen and Prim walked in.

"Gale!" Mrs. Everdeen exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, but I need you to fix my shoulder. I think I dislocated it." Mrs. Everdeen came up to me quickly and examined my arm. Prim stood by, watching carefully. Mrs. Everdeen gently took my arm in her hand. Even with her gentle practiced hands holding me, it was still very painful. I let out a small noise. "It looks like an anterior dislocation…"she muttered. "Prim, go get some of those herbs you picked for pain yesterday, and mix them with a few drops of sleep syrup, but just enough to make him groggy!"

_Ugh… I hate sleep syrup… _I think, but I know it will be better to not be fully conscious when she fixes my arm. Mrs. Everdeen keeps touching my arms in different places while we wait for Prim.

"Where are you watching the games tomorrow?" I ask. She doesn't look up from my arm,

"I was hoping you it would be alright if we came over to watch the games with your family…?"

"Yeah. That's fine," I say. Truthfully I would want to watch and study Katniss in the games by myself, but I know how hard this is going to be for the Everdeen's. They need support.

"I got it," Prim hurries into the kitchen. "Here gale," she hands me a bowl. How to I take this? Do I drink it? Or chew it? I try to do a little of both.

The sleep syrup starts to work before I finish the bowl of medicine. "Gale, I need you to completely relax your arm. This is going to hurt a little," Mrs. Everdeen instructs. Ha! Hurt a little my butt! Fixing a dislocated arm is encrusting, but I am determined to grit my teeth and bear it.

She takes my lower arm and bends it up towards my shoulder, then moving it over to form and 'L'. "Make a fist," she instructs me. She takes the arm and slowly moves to away from my stomach. I know this is when the agony starts. She grabs my wrist and starts to push. I shut my eyes and tighten my jaw; it takes a lot not to scream out. "Prim check the arm." Mrs. Everdeen commands. Prim's feels my shoulder; I want to swat her hand away. "Go ahead," Prim says. Mrs. Everdeen tightens her grip on my wrist and gives my arm a forceful thrust into my shoulder. I gasp, not expecting the change in pressure and pain. I feel the arm snap back into place. Hot relief spreads all over that area of my body.

"Thank you…" I whisper. It was almost a whimper, actually. Mrs. Everdeen feels and moves my arm a little more before deciding I can leave. I am about to walk out the door when I feel Mrs. Everdeen's hand touch my shoulder. I turn around and she pulls me into a hug. I don't say anything, and neither does she. But we both understand.

I can't sleep that night. I keep worrying about the games, I can't lie on my arms, and the interviews are really irritating me. I can't believe Peeta would do that to Katniss! He made her look weak! But it wasn't just Peeta, the whole Capitol changed her. They dressed her up like a doll and put her in makeup. That's not who she is. I'm surprised she let them, but maybe they had to chain her up and forcibly put her in the clothes. That wouldn't shock me…

I wake up the next morning, sleep deprived. I don't have school because it's the first day of the games so I get up and go for a hunt. I take down two very nice rabbits and a squirrel and go trade them at the hob. I do my business and am about to take home one of the rabbits when I feel a tap on my shoulder. The woman who sells corn and soy beans – Katniss and I hardly ever trade with her, we have little use for corn and tomatoes – hands me a bag of something. Before I have time to look at it she gives my hand a squeeze and walks away. I look down and see a little bag of popcorn, a small treat. She also grows popcorn, an expensive luxury. I wonder why this strange woman would give me free food as I walk home. One of the rules of the seam: Food is NEVER free. It must be pity again.

I arrive home in plenty of time for the games to start. My mother is busying herself with some laundry she has to do. We are also alike in that sense; we both work when we are trying to not worry or not think about something.

At nine thirty we walk down a few houses to the Everdeen's. I hand the bag of popcorn to Prim, and she goes with Rory to pop it over the fire. The kids seem excited about the popcorn, but I can't understand why. I know I will not be able to eat a single thing.

The games start promptly at ten, but before that they replay highlights of the interviews. I must see Peeta declare his love for Katniss fifteen times; I feel like I may be sick. It's so disgusting the way he made her look week and wimpy, I can't believe she'll let him live very long after that.

I wonder if the brilliant district team realizes that now, if it comes down to it, Katniss cannot kill Peeta. If she does, she will ruin her reputation and the sponsors will want to murder her, and they practically have the ability to do that. If she doesn't, she makes the chances of her coming home even slimmer.

Finally the games are about to start. The Everdeen's and my family are huddled around my little TV. People were still passing by our windows to the square; I wonder what it will be like there. Everyone in District 12 knows the baker, ergo everyone knows Peeta. I bet they're getting a lot of gifts, little odds and ends that people can afford to give them. Everyone from the seam knows Katniss, knows what she can do with a bow and arrow. I bet there is some genuine anticipation for what will happen this year. Normally district 12 tributes are starving to death and keel over on day one because they are too malnourished to escape.

Caesar Flickerman pops up in his nice little studio. He says hello and a few jokes, then shows the streets in the crowded capital. The streets are packed with people selling souvenirs like t-shirts, mugs, and caps. I think it's ridiculous. There is a giant television – must be ten times the size of the one in the District 12 town square – set up. Normally the first and last days in the capital are the most rambunctious, crowds gather, bet, and drink. They throw parties and watch the games out with all their friends in the streets.

I'm itching for the games to start; a first and a last. I hate the games, but I want to see Katniss. I know her survival all depends on the arena. If they put her in a forest she'll thrive, but if they put her in a desert her chances are smaller. I hope they give her a bow and arrow.

The cameras move away from Caesar and show a giant arena. I take a sharp breath, and the cameras slowly zoom in. I exhale slowly, and gladly. It's a forest! The entire arena is exactly what Katniss will love. _She'll come home!_ The thought flickers across my brain before I can stop it. I suppress it quickly though, it's WAY too early to be thinking that. I didn't want to dilute myself, I wanted to be realistic. Though the arena did make me want to smile, I let out a tiny grin.

The cornucopia was at least twenty feet tall at the mouth and piled high with weapons. The most valuable, and the most dangerous, were closest to the mouth and less important items were spread as far back as the cylinders that the tributes arrived in. the cameras give a nice long scan over the weapons, as viewers will not be able to see much of them when the games start, and I spot the bow. I almost laugh. The arena and the bow make things almost too good to be true, in game standards, at least.

The camera goes back up to a low aerial view and shows the outskirts of the rest of the arena. The tail of the cornucopia points to a big field with grasses that, at their highest, must be over my head. To the rights of that was a section of woods, not very big. Maybe half a mile long, though from what I saw of the overhead view the arena expands the farther away it gets from the cornucopia. Once that section of the woods ends a sparking lake consumes the screen. _Good, water, _I think, and then it dawns on me that this may be the only source of water. That would guarantee some bloody battles of the Capitol's entertainment. To the right of the lake are trees. Tree's as far as I can see, and from what I see they take up the rest of the arena. I see some species I recognize – spruce, pine, oak – and some I don't. I exhale deeply, Katniss will know her way around these woods, but I hope she doesn't get to comfortable.

The camera shows one last show of the arena before going back to Caesar. He yells some things to the crowd to get them yelling back at him in anticipation. The crowds rowdy, just the way they like to be. I hear Mrs. Everdeen fidgeting next to me, she's as anxious as I am. I look across the room at my family and my family's closest friends. My mother is leaning against the wall, staring silently at the TV. I'm sure she's ready to jump to Mrs. Everdeen's side if need be, for comfort and what not. My brothers are sitting side by side on the couch, immobile. The games are the only time they're ever like that. Even from a young age children understand how grave – not to mention how _sick _– the games are. Prim sits with Posy on her lap. Posy is playing with Prim's loose hair, twirling what she can in her little fingers. Prim bounces her slightly, but maybe's that's her just jiggling her leg out of nerves.

Caesar looks into the camera, "WELCOME!" he roars, "TO THE SEVENTY-FOURTH HUNGER GAMES!" the crowd goes wild. "Its 9:59 a.m. and you know what that means!" he has to pause again to let the crowd scream. "I don't know if I have ever been more excited for these games! I mean just think about those training scores!" _Yes, Caesar, think of the eleven my girl got!_ I though. Then, surprised at myself I thought, _My girl? Since when was she my girl? _

"Alright! Let's turn our attention to the games!" Caesar beams at the camera then turns to face the televisions screen. My television blacks out for a second, and then a silver picture emerges. We are looking at the games from the point of view of a tribute. The crowd is chanting something in the background, to give a feeling of anticipation, but I don't know if that's a television effects or if the tributes can actually hear the crowd. We rise up and I can hear the tributes breath quickening.

A door opens in front of us, and the tribute gasps. The camera zooms away from them and flies around the circle of tributes to get each one of their reactions. A tiny red clock is also in the upper right hand side of the TV screen, counting down the minute they have before they are allowed to make a run for the cornucopia.

The first tribute shown close up is the District 1 tribute, Marvel. His eyes widen momentarily but quickly narrow in concentration. He knows he wants to run to the supplies. The narrow-eyed-concentrating look was more or less for all the careers. Rue's tiny face pops up on my screens and I see her nodding slowly, assessing the picture in front of her. The girl from district 5, her name escapes me, grins. I shake my head in confusion at her, why is she grinning? She must have something in store.

Rory giggles, "Foxface…" he mutters. I chuckle. I guess her name will be Foxface. While the camera shows a quick close up of the other tributes I wonder what Katniss plan is. I haven't been able to get an accurate idea of how far away the cornucopia is from the tributes, but my guess was about 50 yards. Katniss can sprint, and that's what she's built for.

I'm practically leaping out of my chair, waiting for her face to pop up on the screen. The minute the tributes have to assess the arena is almost up, and only a few more tributes faces have to be seen.

_There!_ I think, and there she was. Her face was hardened into her hunting scowl, a look I knew well. She must have seen the bow. Her eyebrows were furrowed into a 'v'. I could tell she was going to run for her bow. The camera flickers away while I'm still thinking about her. The tributes are being shown in the order of their circles, and the next tribute I care about is Peeta. Well not _care about, _but am interested in.

His face pops up; he is staring at something intently. But it's not the cornucopia. He's looking sideways, the direction the camera came from. "Look…" he whispers. He's willing someone to look at him and I realize its Katniss. "No…" I mutter. He was going to ruin her concentration! He was going to make her miss her mark!

Sure enough he did. Two seconds before the gong rang and the tribute started to sprint towards the cornucopia, he made eye contact with her. In that split second he shook his head vigorously and left her dumbfounded. When the bang of the gong echoed around the arena her feet moved slower than her brain. She had to reorganize her thoughts, and because that few seconds had cost her.

_Damn you, Peeta_, I think.

The world becomes chaos. People run each and every way. The initial battle of the cornucopia is played on live time to show how hectic and hell-like it is, and then when the fighting is over they play slow motion close ups of each and every killing.

I can't catch much, but I try to watch for Katniss. It's hard to spot her at first, the camera had moved to a few of about eight feet about the ground and about one hundred feet away from the cornucopia, I had lost my bearings on where she was. All the tributes were wearing the same thing, another contributing factor. But I do know the biggest part of the woods was to the left of her, which gives me a place to start.

By the time I spot her she has paused face to face with a thin boy, possibly the district 9 tribute. "What is she doing…?" I whisper to myself. Suddenly the boy collapses. I barley have time to process this when Katniss is flying towards the woods. A girl tribute – I think it's the one from two – chucks a knife after her. My heart stops, _this is it! _I think. But Katniss pulls a pack up to protect her neck and the knife lodges itself in that.

"Yes!" I hiss. This district two girl has excellent aim, the other tributes better watch out. I watch what I can of the initial fight, but it's hard. Things move to fast and the tributes are too hard to spot. I lean back in my chair and wait for the replays to come on. Finally all the tributes but the careers have run away into the woods. Before the viewers even get a close up of the tributes that are still alive, we get replays. I grit my teeth and watch the slow motion replays of every single gruesome killing.

Cato is lethal. He got his hands on a sword and hacks away with such skill and practice that I wonder if he learned how to sword fight before he could walk. He slices everyone who isn't in alliance with him. I count four kills; the girl from ten – plunged the sword into her gut - , the boy from seven – sliced his arm off and let him bleed - , the boy from eight, and the girl from nine – the last two he just plunged the sword into their hearts.

The pretty girl, Glimmer, got Katniss' bow. I was outraged. I bit my lip and clenched my fists because, unfortunately, that's all I could do. I was sure Glimmer was completely inadequate with a bow and arrow, but she did take out the girl from six with a flail.

Clove was impressive with her knives. She took down two, including the boy she struck in front of Katniss and injured on badly enough that I was sure she – the girl from seven – would slink away and bleed to death. She also hit two others; one in the leg and the other in the shoulder. But they ran off, they weren't injured badly enough to die from that.

Marvel grabbed a morning star and spear. He would slam the morning star into someone and turn around to thrust the spear into someone else. He looked more comfortable with the spear. He took out the boy from nine and the girl from three.

Right off the back it was apparent that Thresh was not one of the Careers. He reached the cornucopia and grabbed two pack backs and long sword with a curved blade. The careers would try to take him down with something, but they never had a direct hit. The career from four tried to run up behind him with an axe, but Thresh turned around and swung his fist full force into the boy's head. The boy flew fifteen feet away. Thresh snatched the axe the boy had dropped and jogged over to where the boy lay. Thresh brought the axe down, splitting his head in two. Thresh grabbed two backpacks, the axe, and a sword before heading out. He was going to make it out of the clearing with his supplies and the axe he picked up when a boy with a death wish ran up to him, screaming and waving a flail around his head. Thresh ducked the flail, but grabbed the boys head and snapped if off his neck like a twig.

I grimaced. I could kill someone with a knife or sword or arrows, but holding someone's head in my hands and snapping it is something I couldn't do. _To kill someone with my bare hands…_ I shuttered at the thought.

I shake my head to ride myself of the thought of killing someone with my bare hands when, as though shaking my head dug up the thought, I remembered Peeta. As though on cue, Peeta's face pops up on my screen for his personal replay. I watch closely as he shakes his head at Katniss, something that still makes me boil with anger. He could have ruined any shot she had! Fortunately he didn't. After the gong rings he sprints to the cornucopia, he's fast too. He reaches the cornucopia at the same time as Cato reaches his sword, and they meet eyes for a second. I wonder momentarily why this wasn't on Cato's replay, but I don't have the time to worry about it. I think Cato is about to slice Peeta in two, when he nods and turns around to kill some other tributes! My mouth drops, _what was that?_ Peeta then grabs a spear and turns around so his back is towards Cato. It dawns on me;

Peeta is a career.

I hiss with anger at him. I could probably kill _him_ with my bare hands right now! I see how Thresh could do it. It's natural, scarily natural.

The people in the room around me are protesting, though none as angry as me. No district twelve tribute would _ever _even _consider _joining the career pack! I can hear the gossip now; I'm my entire district feels betrayed. I can't believe he would be just abandon his district.

And what about Katniss? I though he said he was in love with her on national television! I tune in quickly to hear what the commentators have to say about this, and they can't believe it either. They're furious. They wonder if what he said about loving Katniss was only to get publicity, and wondering what Katniss will do when she finds out. I'm halfway out of my chair, ready to leave the house, when I hear someone say, "Unless he's doing this to protect her." I plop back down. Why? I don't know. Aren't I in a bad enough mood already?

"Think about it," the unknown person says as the camera focuses on a long table with about seven people, including Claudius Templesmith, head Gamemaker, and Caesar Flickerman. "It's the ultimate sign of love! Putting yourself in danger to protect your love! Maybe it's just me, but when Peeta told Katniss he loved her he seemed sincere."

I can practically hear the "Awww" coming from the Capital. The indignant faces of the commentators melt away as they realize the tenderness of the situation. "It's so beautiful! It's so romantic!" they croon. "Star-crossed lovers!"

I think I'm going to be sick.

I really want to get out, go for a walk in the woods, shoot some poor innocent animal in the head, but I don't because Katniss replay is next, and I have to see what's happening to her.

Once announcers are done 'ohh'ing and 'ahh'ing over something they could be completely wrong about. They start Katniss replay. I notice how confused she was at Peeta's head shake. She's starting to run to the cornucopia, looking really annoyed, when the video randomly pauses. The camera goes to the commentators table, where the same woman who had spoken before about Peeta trying to protect Katniss paused the video.

"He's telling her not to go into the fight!" she squealed, "To keep her safe!" this stops the replay from continuing for another five minutes. I block out all their silly little frivolous voices, willing them to shut up before I punched a hole in the television screen.

Finally they do, and Katniss replay is continued. She runs to the cornucopia, picking a plastic tarp and a loaf of bread on the way. When she reaches the backpack with the boy she struggles, and then freezes when he spits blood all over her. She scrunches up her face and closes her eyes for a second, but when she sees the boy fall she snatches up the pack and runs like hell. Seeing the knife almost go through her skull gives me a heart attack all over again, even though I know she doesn't die. I let out another deep breath when she's in the safety of the woods.

The only tribute I pay attention to, other than Katniss and the Careers, is Rue. She's so tiny and only escapes with a backpack. I have a feeling Katniss wouldn't be able to kill her, Rue is too much like Prim.

Finally the games are back on real time. I'm itching to escape the confinements of my house, but at the same time, I need to be here, watching the games, for Katniss sake. The gamemakers show a clip switch the camera to her right after a few minutes of watching the careers tend to themselves. She's jogging away from the cornucopia. She looks strong, all that capital food had added on a few pounds. She hasn't stopped yet to look at the contents of her pack, but paused once in the time she's on screen to listen for pursuers.

Now that I know she's safe I need to get out. I give myself an hour and a half to be in the woods before I need to be glued to the screen again. I grab my boots and sprint for the fence that leads me to my release.

***

As it turns out, an hour and a half was _way _too much time to give myself. I started out sprinting as hard as I could, which was very, _very _fast, north. I slowed down to a brisk jog after a few minutes; I didn't want to run myself into the ground. But I kept a fast pace, I needed to ride myself of adrenaline.

For the first ten minutes I didn't think of anything but where my foot was going to slam on the ground next. I was never this loud in the woods; I was probably scaring off all the game in a ten mile radius.

For the first ten minutes, all was well. But after I worked off the initial adrenaline that was clouding my brain, my thoughts began to drift back to the games. I began to worry about Katniss, and ten minutes later I was having an anxiety attack about her safety.

I leaned against the nearest tree to get my bearings. I had to get a grip before I went and faced my family; I couldn't let them see how hard this was for me. I sat for about a minute and when I had enough control I turned around and sprinted all the way home.

When I arrived back at the fence that separated the district from the woods I paused to think about what I had almost just done to myself. I was being so loud and careless in those woods I could have been attacked by anything. A bear or a mountain lion could have been following me and I would have never heard. I didn't have a weapon either. Though death may be preferable if I never see Katniss again, I couldn't do that do to those dependent on me. I scold myself for being so careless.

I rush back inside and learn that nothing has happened since I left. I wonder briefly what I will do when I am in school and not able to watch the games for hours at a time. I wonder if it might make me go insane. But we get to watch replays at lunch; I guess I'll have to make do with that.

The day goes by slowly and no one else dies. The careers take a little rest before deciding to go hunt their victims. The camera shows the other tributes I don't care about for what seems like ages, but after all. There are six Careers – _six _careers! Damn you Peeta! – And only one other I care about. So there are five people that the other districts and families want to see. I guess I'll just have to learn to life with it.

Every once and a while the camera shows an aerial shot of the entire arena, and circles the tributes locations. Katniss color circle is a pale blue. There is a tiny yellow circle about five miles away from her and the night is settling. I hope that's not someone dangerous who could find her in her sleep. If Katniss decides to sleep.

An hour later Katniss is strapped into her tree and settles down for the night. I'm worried about that little yellow circle, I don't know who it is and they could be potentially dangerous. But Katniss is well concealed in the tree and I don't think someone would be able to spot her from the ground unless they look directly up.

I look up and realize that it's actually night in district twelve now, and the Everdeen's have gone home. I don't know what to do with myself. I don't want to go to sleep and miss a part of the games, but I'm exhausted. I decide on compromising; I drag my blankets and pillow out to the family room to sleep on our tiny couch. I fall asleep with the light of the television illuminating the room, and dearly hope I don't sleep through anything important.

* * *

_OMG! Really sorry this is late, blah blah blah, you guys know the drill. It would have been up a week ago, but I had the flu and missed an entire week of school then I had all that makeup work to do. Anyway, sorry! _ _Thanks for reading and please review!_

_P.S. – do you guys know how _hard _it is to write this?? There are SO MANY details I have to pay attention to! And it was especially important on the first day of the games! I'm sorry if I should like I'm whining or making excuses, I just thought I'd let you know what I'm thinking. _

_P.S.S – SHESH I have a lot to say! LOL but this is actually important. I don't know if you guys have realized this, or had an inkling of it, but I'm trying to come across as though Gale is so worried about Katniss in the Games that he's completely reckless, dangerous, and careless with himself. Ex: the leg, arm, and what almost happened in the games. I'll develop that a little more later, but I just thought I'd let you know in case you're wondering why he is – and will be – having these accidents. I hope you'll also notice the little _"my girl, since when is she my girl?" _I wanted that to show that he already thinks of Katniss as a little more than a friend, but he doesn't really realize it until she's gone. That will also get more devolved later on. _


	5. Chapter 5

The second I wake I know I've missed something important. I squint at the flashing, moving lights coming from my television. I try to come to my senses up as quickly as I can.

The nighttime announcers are commentating, I guess Caesar decided to turn in and call it a night. They're yelling things like, "BY GEORGE!" "I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS!" "HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE?"

My mind immediately jumps to Katniss' death, her being tortured and murdered in such an unthinkably horrendous way that it has never been seen in the capital before. "Let's watch the replay again, shall we?" someone asks. The television flashes back in time.

It's still dark in the arena, but the shot is being lit up. The girl from district 8 is stumbling through the woods. It's apparent that she's exhausted and freezing. She has no weapons, just an orange backpack. She walked into a tiny clearing in the woods and falls down to the ground. While she is taking a breather, a tiny map appears on screen. Katniss face appears alongside an arrow pointing to a dot to mark her location.

She's only one hundred feet away.

_That's it!_ I think, _Katniss made her first kill! _A rush of mixed feelings fills my body; I'm horrified and proud at the same time. However, I mentally reprimand myself when I remember that, to come home to me, she must kill every remaining person in that arena. _Come home to me? _I question my own thoughts. Why was my brain being so possessive of Catnip all of a sudden? She wasn't _mine_!

The camera goes back to the District 8 girl. She has gotten up from the ground and started to collect wood and place it in a pile. "She wouldn't…" I mutter. She can't be that stupid. No one, no one, can be that dreadfully stupid. Really, does she _want _to die? She's going to lead everyone in the arena right towards her!

The camera switches over to Katniss. The shot is awkward because she is so well concealed in the tree, but I can see her face well enough. At first, she's concentrating hard, listening to every move the girl makes. Anger starts to sow when she realizes show much noise is girl is making, and how that dumb girl could get her killed too. "Go get her!" I whisper-yell at Katniss, but it dawns on me that Katniss doesn't know who it is.

The camera moves to an angle that is, I imagine, closest to what Katniss can see. In the distance a spark ignites, and goes out. Another spark this time is catches fire and grows, slowly. Katniss gasps; she's outraged, and so am I. That girl might get Katniss killed, not to mention the definite that she will get herself murdered! How can she be so ignorant, so stupid? Stupid people do not belong in the games. They are a danger to everyone around them, they should die first. I imagine its cold in the arena, but then you've just got to _suck it up! _

Katniss and the girl are sharing the screen. At first, the girl is alert as she can be. She listens to the woods over the crackling of her fire. But then she begins to doze off. She tries to move around to keep herself awake. Katniss eyes are wide as saucers, her fury makes her alert. She doesn't move in fear of getting herself killed.

Abruptly, the camera switches off these two girls for someone much tinnier with big grey eyes illuminated by the fake moon. It takes me a few seconds to remember its Rue, the tiny District 11 girl.

She has a good view of the fire from the tree she is in. A map appears on the upper right hand side of the screen to tell me that Katniss is north, Rue is south, and the girl in the middle.

"Oh…" Rue whispers. She takes one last look at whoever she thinks is the stupid person starting the fire before swinging easily, silently, and gracefully through the trees. "Wow," I whisper. The way she moves is incredible to watch. This must be how she got such a high training score, she can escape anything. I'm impressed.

Watching Rue makes me feel immediately guilty. I haven't paid any attention to a single other tribute other than Katniss and the Careers. I vow to myself to do better, to pay more attention.

Meanwhile, the careers have spotted a flickering light way off in the distance. Wide smiles break across all their faces. A few high five and Cato thrusts' his fist in the air. They hold their torches up and start to run towards the light.

The camera randomly closes up on Peeta. He looks distressed, like she doesn't want to go get this poor _Serves you right, traitor!_ I think. Killing is the deal for joining the careers. But I do wonder why he joined if she doesn't want to kill… I feel guilty again, and double my vow to pay closer attention.

For such large people the careers move very quickly through the woods. But they were _very _loud. They reminded me of the time Catnip and I dragged a 150-lb deer into the Hob. People were yelling their bids all around us and some even began to hack off pieces of the deer meat.

The stupid girl has fallen into a deep sleep. However, she obviously doesn't have any experience with nature, because the thundering noise of feet and snapping twigs, which was anything but natural, would have woken Katniss or I, even in our deepest sleep, in a second.

The careers burst into the clearing. Marvel reaches the girl first and lunges at her with his sword. The girl wakes a second before the weapon is about to cut her stomach open. She releases a blood curdling scream, causing the woods around her to vibrate with the echo. "TWELVE DOWN AND ELEVEN TO GO!" Cato shouts to an appreciative hoots and Marvel waves the bloody sword in the air.

The camera flickers back to Katniss. Her eyes are narrowed at the figures in the distance. I can practically hear her absorb every sound they make, every step they take. Her breathing is shallow and slow, almost silent.

The careers turn the girl over, looking for supplies. They find nothing useful but the backpack, and take it and her jacket for good measure. "Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking," Cato says, and gives the girls foot a kick. The group murmurs their assent.

Now that they are in the clearing, I can fully see their faces. They look like shit. Peeta's face is the first I notice; it's swollen with bruises and I see he is favoring one of his legs. Marvel's ear is the size of a potato and he has bandages wrapped around one of his upper arm. Glimmer has a gash in one of the legs of her pants. I guess she tore off the hanging fabric and let thigh bare. I stare at her leg a little longer than I would like to; I shake my head to stop. District 4 has a bandage wrapped around her lower arm. Clove has a bloody gash on her cheek, but she just cleaned it and left it alone. Out of all the girls she is the most enthusiastic fighter. Cato got out of the Cornucopia fights without a scratch on his body. He is defiantly the one to beat; he is the fighter that will be in there towards the end. I honestly think the only way for him to die would be for Katniss to take him out at a distance with some arrows. That gives me hope, gives Katniss a way around the big barrier keeping her from winning. But first she has to survive longer than the rest of the tributes.

Then, to my horror, the pack goes to north; directly to where Katniss is hiding. My heart plummets into my stomach. I wonder what they could have done to her that would amaze the commentators so much. The question of what she could have done to them crosses my mind, but I know the answer to that is nothing. It's five to one and she only has a single knife.

My heart starts to quicken as they come closer and closer to her tree. "Walk past her… walk past her…" I will them to do, but they don't. My heart is pumping double time when they stop ten feet away from her tree.

Katniss is well concealed, but that's just temporary. When the sun comes up her sleeping bag will spell trouble. I hope they don't decide to make camp or something, which would be beyond unlucky. But as of late, my – or Katniss - luck hasn't exactly been good.

"Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?" Clove asks.

"Unless she isn't dead," Cato shoots at Marvel.

"She's dead! I stuck her myself!"

"Then where's the cannon?" Cato demands.

"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done," the District 4 girl suggests.

"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice!" Glimmer says.

"I said she's dead!" Marvel shouts. An argument ensures until Peeta holds up his arms and silences the others. "We're wasting time!" he says, "I'll go and finish her and let's move on!"

Just as the camera switched to Katniss face, it occurred to me that she probably didn't know that Peeta was with the careers. One glance at her face tells me I was right, she had no idea. Her mouth drops and she almost falls out of her tree. I gasp as she rolls over, but her belt caught her.

She rolled sideways off her tree and is facing the ground. Her feet are braced against the tree and she is using one hand to hold onto the belt, the other to hold onto the tree. There wasn't much noise when she flipped over, just some rustling. She was very lucky.

How careless! How stupid! Stupidity just got some girl _killed_! _Why _wouldn't she be more careful? Anger flooded from my chest to all the points of my body. I bare my teeth at her. "Katniss…" I grow.

"Go on then, Lover Boy, see for yourself," Cato sneers. Ah, I see they've given dear Peeta a nickname. Katniss face is radiating anger, from his arrogant betrayal.

The other tributes exchange looks, silent, until he is out of earshot, then they begin to whisper.

"Why don't we just kill him and get it over with?" Clove asks.

"Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with that knife," District 4 says. Katniss' eyebrows raise; coolly, surprised. I recognize her face, she's thinking something sarcastic.

"Besides, he's out best chance at finding her," Cato says. At first I don't understand what he means but then I see he is talking about Katniss. I scold myself – yet again – for not paying closer attention earlier when he might have mentioned something about why they want her dead.

I guess I'm not the only one who's surprised. Katniss looks confused, but widens her eyes as the truth dawns on her.

"Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?" District 4 asks.

"She might have, seemed pretty simpleminded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke."

_You and me both, Cato _I think bitterly. I _knew _it! I _knew_ this would happen! The dumb-frilly stylist in the Capital made her look weak! They made her look stupid!

_Then why would they want her dead…? _I think. Suddenly, I remember her training score. She got the highest one. I bet Cato has a grudge! I smirk, I think it's funny. Not for Katniss of course, but for Cato. He's jealous because someone outdid him.

"Wish we knew how she got that eleven," Clove says.

"Bet you Lover Boy knows," Cato responds.

Now I understand why they haven't killed him yet. They're using him to get to Katniss. What a smart idea. I really hope the stupid oaf, Peeta, has enough sense to get an inkling of their plan, though.

Peeta's returning footsteps quite them. "Was she dead?" Cato asks.

"No but she is now," Peeta informs them. The cannon fires, "Ready to move on?" he asks.

The careers run off and dawn begins to break. _Let day two begin_, I think.

Now the cameras are on live time. The commentators hold a tiny space in the upper right hand corner to dissect every move of what just happened or what is happening, but other than that the screen is all for the games. I tune out their dribble, I could probably learn something from it, but it's early and I didn't get much sleep. Plus, I have to go hunt then go to school.

Katniss is still holding her spot in the tree, arms beginning to shake with exertion, when I hear it. The high pitched warning call of a bird that makes memories come rushing back to me. A terrible day from my past flashes through my eyes, a day that has haunted me and given me guilt even since it happened. All the sounds, smells, and pictures are as vivid today as they were years ago.

We had been hunting in the woods one day when suddenly every bird stopped singing, except one. That bird gave a high pitched wail, like a warning call. Then they, a girl and a boy, came. They were running like they're lives depended on it. Their clothes were tattered and they had dark circles under their eyes from lack of sleep. I remember the girl's appearance because of her dark red hair and porcelain white skin. She was an exotic looking girl to me, beautiful.

Feelings of guilt and anxiety well up inside me remembering the day. Katniss and I were immobilized as we watched them flee through the woods, but we were hunters and knew what distressed animals looked like. We ran under some sort of shelf of a rock and waited. The strange couple broke through the trees into a small clearing thirty feet in front of us when the girl saw us.

It was like she looked directly into my soul, asking me what type of person I would be, what type of decision I would make. Would I risk my life to save a stranger's? Or would I stand by and let whatever she was running from get her? I took a step forward when a hovercraft literally appeared out of nowhere. A net dropped down and carried the girl up. A long spear-thing came flying through the air and went through the boy. It was attached to a cable so they pulled him up. The girl screamed, a long, agonizing scream, for him. The hovercraft disappeared into thin air.

I know they were from the Capital; they had that look about them. Katniss and I wondered aloud where they could be going; District 12 is pretty much the end of the line, if you don't count District 13. But that place is still smoldering from toxic bombs so I don't know what they could want there…

I always knew we should help her. We could have done something, if we had moved fast enough. I was selfish, I made a mistake. I'll never forget the way she looked at me; she knew we were her last hope.

My mind shifts back to reality and a hovercraft comes to pick up the dead District 8 girl. The camera is still on Katniss as she whispers, "move," to herself. There is some rustling in the tree as she packs up her stuff. I wonder what she's going to do once she's on her feet again.

She slides out of the tree and pauses on the ground, cocking her head to the side and giving a all-knowing grin. _What? _I think. "What was that? Is this planned?" the commentators are asking.

Katniss starts to walk off in one direction but pauses a few steps away. She looks back, regrettably, and turns around. I wonder what she is doing until I remember the snares. She's had too many years of hunting not to go and check them. But it is imprudent, with the others so near. However, she is rewarded with one fine rabbit. She cleans it and guts it, leaving the innards under a pile of leaves. I hope she's not planning on eating it raw; she's in too tough a situation to have rabbit fever. And any hunter knows, rabbit fever is not something to just shake off.

Her face flickers with an idea. She goes over to the dead girl's fire and cuts of the rabbit, fashioning out a spit to roast it over the fire. While it the rabbit is cooking, she sets about camouflaging her orange pack.

"You realize this will help her get sponsors, you know. She won't be lured into the same traps of hunger as the others. Yes, this is very good." A commentator says.

After Katniss packs up her gear and hikes along, she holds a screen in the Capital. Nothing else exciting is happening, so dissecting all of Peeta's behaviors and Katniss' reactions seems like a good way to spend the time. I stretch my neck and in doing so get a glance outside the window. The sun is defiantly coming up, I need to go hunt. I don't normally like to listen to the commentators, but I want to hear what they say about Peeta.

"Yes, he's certainly thrown a wrench into out star-crossed lovers dynamic, hasn't he?"

"I _still _say he's doing it because he loves her so much!"

They begin to argue, and with that I pull myself out of bed to go hunt for the day.

***

Normally, during the Hunger Games, I love going to school. It's an excuse not to have to watch the horrible games all the time. But this year it's different. This year my friend is in the games, and I _have _to know what happens to her. This year I get pitying stares wherever I go. This year all I want to do is sit in my house and watch the games by myself.

I didn't find anything worth shooting before school, so I guess that means I'll have to go after. Normally, I enjoy hunting. But now, even though I didn't hunt with Catnip all the time, the woods seem lonely. I better get used to that though; I probably will never hunt with her again.

Throughout the morning I heard some muttering about Peeta's betrayal. I was right, most everyone is upset about it.

During lunch, I'm planning the hunting route when a girl in my grade comes up. I've seen her before, but I don't know her very well. She's got brown hair, big brown eyes, and fare skin; a merchant girl if I've ever met one. Occasionally she'll come and try to talk to me, but I've always said the minimal thing possible back.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," I grumbled. I looked into her eyes and she turn away.

"How are you," she asked, kindly.

"Fine," I told her, cooler than I should have been.

"Good," she said. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before sitting down at my table. I always sit alone. Katniss would sit with me, but we're in different grades and never have the same lunch times. normally during the Hunger Games there are recaps of what's going on around lunchtime, but right now they're just playing the thing that happened with Catnip and the Careers' last nights.

The girl – what was her name? Allison? Audrey? It's something with an 'a' – looked at me expectantly, like I was supposed to talk. I didn't know what to say, so I looked around the room. Finally, a bit exasperated – but really, can't this girl take a hint? I don't want her here – I said, "Yes?"

"I was wondering what you're doing Friday?" I raised my eyebrows. Was she asking me out? _NO! _I screamed in my head, _NO! I'm not interested!_

Dating opportunities in District 12 are pretty slim, there isn't much to do. In fact, most people don't do anything except take a walk around town or eat a small meal together, if they can afford it. However, there are some girls who have endless ideas for dates, and instinct tells me this girl was one of them…

"Um, hunting," I told her. What was I supposed to say?

"Oh," she looked down at the blotchy white table, slightly disappointed. Suddenly, she looked back up and said, "Can I come?"

"No!" I said. She looked hurt, which made me feel bad. "Sorry, but I, um, hunt alone."

"You hunt with _that girl_," she said. I didn't like the way she said, "That girl."

"_Katniss, _is an experienced hunter, she's been hunting since she was 12."

"I could learn," she insisted.

"No," I enforced. She breathed deeply, so her chest heaved upward and her nostrils flared. She was upset, but there was nothing I could do about it. If she thought this was the way to get me to say yes…

"AVA!" someone called from across the room and she wiped her head around to face them. _Ava!_ I thought, I knew it started with an 'A'…

"Yeah," she asked. Ava's friend came up and smiled at me, sort of. It was an 'I'm being nice but I really don't like you' smile. The friend sat down next to Ava and learned towards her, holding her hand next to her mouth so I can't read her lips. Unfortunately for her, I am a hunter, which means my hearing is better than probably a fourth of this room combined. I can hear a twig snap one hundred yards away from me. I look down at my lunch, pretending I'm not listening, and start to pick at it; I'm not really hungry anyway.

"Ava, what are you doing?" the friend hissed at her.

"Nothing," she whispers back, her neck moves forward a little as she says this.

"She's not even _dead_ yet!"

_Not dead yet? Who's not dead yet? _I think, but slowly, the truth begins to hit me and as it does so, I become furious.

"What?" I hiss at her. The girls face turns white; she looks at me with terror in her eyes.

"Were-were you eavesdropping on us?" she stammers.

"What did you say?" I grow. All color leaves the girl's face. She stammers but doesn't say anything. I don't realize I'm on my feet until I see that both of the girls are looking up at me. I really want to hit the bitch. I really, really, want to hit her…

Slowly I sit back down. "Go," I tell them. They scurry away from me, exchanging terrified expressions. I can feel eyes on the back of my head, but I ignore them. I finish my lunch and the rest of the school day, trying to forget what she said about how Katniss isn't dead _yet. _

***

My hunting trip after school was successful. I had decided to go straight into the woods after school, so I wouldn't be lured to my television and end up not being able to go hunting at all for fear of missing something.

Once I was finished with my business at the hob and butchers I headed home. The closer I get the higher my anxiety builds. By the time I'm standing in front of my door I can hear my heart in my ears. I pause, not entirely sure if I actually want to watch the games, but at this point it's like a duty.

When I walk inside Rory and Vick are sitting on the torn up old green couch in front of the small box-like television. Vick turns to me and says, "Mom's over at the Everdeen's with Posy."

I don't care about that, but before I can ask he continues. "She's still alive, dehydrating quickly though."

I let out a sigh of relief because even though dehydration is deadly, Katniss should be able to find water before she snuffs it. That is, of course, assuming that there is another source of water other than the big lake. If the lake is the only source of water there is a change she won't be able to make it back, even if she does turn around now. I disregard that thought, knowing that if there is game around and vegetation there must be water other than the lake. I hope she's going downhill and looking for a game trail of vegetation.

"How bad is she?" I ask, not knowing because she's not on the screen.

"Last I saw she was panting pretty badly," Vick says.

"The announcers said it's 74 degrees in there," Rory adds.

"Right before you came in she found some berries but she decided not to eat them," Vick continues. _Smart girl, _I think. No one in the Hunger Games should ever eat anything unless they're one hundred percent sure they know it's not toxic.

"'Kay," I say, "What's going on now?"

"It's the District 3 boy. He's just traveling along, nothing exciting has happened." Rory fills me in.

"That's what most people have been doing all day, actually. It's been pretty uneventful."

I sit down next to my brothers and watch a tall, skinny looking boy move around through the woods. Since he isn't entertaining enough for the capital audience, the camera switches over to the District 10 boy.

He's obviously unsuited to be in the games. He's short and sickly; he can't walk on one foot. He hobbles along with nothing but a backpack. He has no chance of becoming a Victor. I wonder how his life will end. Audience in the Capital gets bored and the cameras switch over to someone a little more exciting.

It's Rue. She's crouched in a tree with her backpack, hovering over a large field filled with grasses that, at their lowest, are probably as tall as me. I bet there is some type of grain in those grasses, and probably some rabbits too. It's a good source of food.

She's squinting at something in the field. The camera shifts to see what she can see and I notice there is an unnatural parting of the grasses in the middle of the field. Rue looks bemused. She takes a long look at the figure and then flitters through the trees, moving parallel to the shape.

The camera switches over to the shape and I see its Thresh, all 250 pounds of him. He has his supplies and is searching for something among the grasses, probably water or signs of water. He bends over and feels the hardness of the ground with his hand, then steps on it with his feet. He must figure that as the ground gets softer he will be nearer to water. He's right. Occasionally he uproots a stem of the grass and pops the little seeds of wheat in his mouth. I bet that does not taste very good.

That field is the perfect place for him. He's so huge he can see over the tops of the grasses, he could see if someone was making their way towards him.

Thresh gets boring and the camera switches over to a girl I forgot all about. It's the girl Rory called "Foxface." She's a slim girl with average height. Her flaming hair is pulled up in a ponytail behind her head. She has a knife and a backpack, but that's it. She's jumping behind the trees, so no one can see her. Her narrow eyes are focused on something; they follow it as it moves.

She's watching a career, the District 4 girl. District 4 looks like she's patrolling, looking for victims. She swings a sword around like its nothing and has a backpack slung over her shoulder. I don't know why she's being so obvious; every tribute in the area will be able to hear her.

District 4 looks around, lazily. She's obviously bored and tired. She walks over to a tree and plops down on the ground, leaning against it. She takes the backpack off and lays it on the ground next to her. She closes her eyes lightly, but her grip on the sword tightens. Foxface's face lights up with glee; she's absolutely ecstatic. She bites her lip to keep from making any noise. Her eyes scan the scene in front of her; a career is lying down, almost asleep, with a backpack full of supplies and a sword.

Foxface hides behind her tree, waiting for the Career to fall asleep. Soon enough District 4's breathing slows, becoming steady and rhythmical. Foxface makes her move.

She moves quickly and silently over to the girl, not stepping on any twigs or leaves to give her away. I wonder where she learned this. She picks of the backpacks and runs away.

"What?" I ask, I hear my brothers saying the same.

"Why did she do that," Rory asked.

"I dunno…" I say. I really have no idea. It's stupid! She could have killed the Career but she chose not to! What's wrong with her? I was under the impression she was intelligent.

Foxface runs as silently as she did approaching the Career. The camera follows her for a while but switches back to the District 4 girl, who has just woken up. She looks around on the ground, eyes widening in panic. She looks behind the tree and walks in circle.

"No!" she whispers. When she decides that the pack is gone she screams, "DAMN!" and kicks the tree. A flock of birds fly away, terrified at her outburst. "Fuck," she spits, "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Damn!" Rory and Posy are giggling at her cussing, I smirk at her stupidity.

"Oh," she moans, "Cato is going to kill me…"

_Good, _I think, _one less tribute for Katniss to deal with. _

The girl slowly makes her way back to the Career's camp. They're set up around the lake, about 100 feet away from the Cornucopia. "Find anyone?" Marvel asks as she approaches. He's sitting on the ground with a pile of flexible looking reeds in front of him and an open plastic container. He's trying to weave them together, to make a basket. I guess there was a "Make-your-own-basket-"kit in the cornucopia.

"No," District 4 mumbles. Clove looks up from a knife she was working on. It looks like she had been making the grooves even deeper and sharper,

"You shouldn't be back yet," she states.

"Moved quicker than you though I would," the girl responds.

"You shouldn't have come out from over there either," Clove says, point to the area of woods where the District 4 girl came from. "You should have come out over there," she points to a patch of woods a quarter of the way around from where they were sitting.

Cato stands up from the weapon he was examining. It's something I, and probably he, have never seen before. It's silver with multiple blades, wires, and buttons. It looks like a painful way to die. His eyes inspect her from head to toe, but he says nothing. He doesn't have to; he must know how menacing he looks just standing there.

"Where is your backpack," Clove asks, she's a sharp girl. The girl's eyes narrow like she has no idea what Clove is talking about. "I didn't bring a backpack…" she says slowly.

"Yes, you did," Clove insists.

"No, I defiantly didn't!" the girl says, her voice a little too high to be truthful.

"Marvel!" Clove snaps, "Didn't you see her leave with a backpack?"

"I wasn't watching her, I was working on this," he holds up his sad attempt at a basket.

"Glimmer?" Clove asks. Glimmer shrugs,

"She lefts before I got back," she says.

"Cato?" Clove sounds exasperated. She's knows she's right, but she has no proof.

"I was asleep," he says. Clove turns to Peeta. Before she has time to ask he says, "I was carrying supplies over."

Clove lets out a sigh, causing her lips to flare up. "Fine," she says, "but from now on we pay attention to what someone leaves with." She turns on the District 4 girl and hisses, "I know you left with a pack. You can't fool me. I know you gave it to someone, was it her?"

"I didn't bring a pack," District 4 states. Clove gives her a death glare, but turns away.

District 4 mutters something that sounds a lot like "Crazy bitch…"

Clove whirls around, "What?" she demands.

"I didn't say anything," District 4 says. Clove glowers, but once again decides to drop it.

The sky in the arena is starting to turn dark. The careers build a fire and start to cook some food from the cornucopia over it. They make their plans for the night, which direction they will go, what they will bring, and who will stay behind. Cato puts a lot of emphasis on making sure Peeta is with him at all times and Clove makes sure that the District 4 girl is going to be with her at all times. They decide that Glimmer will stay behind. I'm thrilled to hear they are heading in the direction opposite of where Katniss is.

The camera starts to show each tribute. Thresh made himself camp near a pond. Rue is in a tree. Foxface found a cave near a stream. District 10 boy found some bushes to sleep under, and District 3 boy is leaning against a tree, using his pack as a pillow.

Katniss climbs up a tree and belts herself in as she did the night before. I can see the fatigue all over her face, she still hasn't found water. She sucks on a bone, probably to keep her mind off water.

By now it's time for me to go to bed too. I realize that I haven't eaten dinner, and also that I'm not hungry. Posy and my mother are home. Rory and Vick are crawling into bed; they ate sometime while we were watching the games. I get undressed and climb into my own bed. I lay looking out the window at the stars, wishing Katniss could see them too. There are stars in the arena, but not real ones. Before I fall asleep I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I dream of the long days spent hunting in the woods with Katniss.

* * *

_Hi, just wanted to wish you all a Happy late Easter! Hope you had a good holiday (: please review, let me know what you think. _


	6. Chapter 6

I awake to the pounding noise of the downpour of rain. I slowly pull myself up to a sitting position, stretch, and yawn. I vaguely remember having a good dream, but I can't recall what it was.

I stare out the window at the sheet of rain thundering on the ground. _Why has it been raining so much recently? _I wonder. I know I need to go hunting, but I hope the rain will clear by this afternoon and I can go then. Anyway, it's hard to hunt in the rain. 90% if the animals are hiding in their burrows or nests.

When I walk the short distance from the bedroom to the living room I see my mother is already awake. She's sitting on one of our rickety, wooden chairs and starting out the window like I had been a few minutes ago. She slowly sips a cup of something, probably tea, and sighs. I would love to know what she's thinking. The TV is on but she's not watching.

"Morning," I say. She starts,

"Morning, Gale, are you going out?"

"No, I'm going to see if I can wait out the weather," I pour myself a cup of tea and lean against the counter, "You're up early."

"I couldn't sleep," she says, simply, and stares back out the window.

I grab a bowl and begin to mix some oats with water on our stove. The only good thing that comes out the Games is the electricity; the power is always on. But it's so we can watch children suffer and die to help us remember our place. If it wasn't for that the Capital wouldn't give a damn about the electricity.

I make more oatmeal than I intend to eat, anticipating that Vick, Rory, Posy, and possibly my mother will want some.

While I eat I tune into the Games on TV. The careers have hunted through the night but caught no one. In the earliest "light" of day three, Thresh rips some meat off a bone with his teeth. He holds the bone in his hand, turning it as he chews. Rue is still asleep, nesting in a tree. While the camera is on her she wakes up. At first she doesn't move, but listens to the day around her. When she doesn't hear anything she cautiously sits up and looks around. The cripple boy from nine is still sleeping under a brush. His youth shines through while he is asleep. I bet watching him in the arena is killing his family. Foxface is already sneaking through the trees, looking for people to follow or steal from. The boy from district three drains his last few drops of water, holding the water bottle upside down, despairingly, a few feet above his mouth.

Katniss opens her eyes, shuts them again, and scrunches her face. She pulls her shoulders back and stretches. Lazily, she looks down at the ground and suddenly falls out of her tree. She hits the ground with a loud thud, and breaks many loud branches in the process. I grimace, hoping she quiets down. Slowly she packs up her supplies, taking twice the time she normally would, and heads out on her way. She snaps twigs and rustles through bushes as she walks.

"What are you doing…?" I whisper at her. The TV shot stays on Katniss, and I see that she has to stop often to rest her hands on her knees and rub her forehead. She needs water _now, _or she will make a careless mistake and be killed, or just die of dehydration.

I assess her options, trying to figure out what she could do and hoping that she will come to the same conclusion that I do. She could never make it back to the lake. It's a full day and a half journey and even if she did make it back before someone found her or the lack of water killed her, the careers are guarding the lake. It could rain, but the Gamemakers are not that benevolent. Haymitch could send her water. Yeah, Haymitch could send her water easily! Katniss is one of the favorites, she has lots of sponsors. But she bastard is probably too drunk to even realize Katniss needs water!

"Dammit, Haymitch!" I mutter. Everyone in the Capital seems to be thinking the same, because a roar of confused people muttering questions to each other begins in the central Capital.

If Haymitch lets Katniss die, he will not have a welcome homecoming. District 12 will hold him responsible for Katniss' death. He wouldn't be able to get his liquor from the Hob and, after all, that's what he cares about most in life.

"Well, well!" Says Caesar, "I guess we'll have to call in Haymitch Albany to have a little chat with him about why he won't give this poor girl some water!"

I really want to see the interview with Haymitch, but I also really need to get to school. There is a punishment for missing school, thought I've never actually seen someone being punished, only threatened. The peacemakers in District 12 are pretty lax.

School goes, as always, painfully slow. As I hoped, the weather cleared up and I would be able to go hunting later. The sun was refracting off the wet earth, sending beams of light everywhere. It would be the perfect day to hunt. The ground was soft, the animals' prints would show and my footsteps would be quiet.

It's killing me not knowing what I had missed of the Games during school. The update I saw during lunch just showed everyone was still alive but Katniss was still dying of thirst. I had one more class before I could go home and watch the games, not that it would help Catnip. But I liked to think that she knew I was watching her, supporting her, willing her to come home.

I jiggled my foot from left to right, waiting for the bell to ring. When it finally does, I snatch up my bag and bust out of there. On my way out, Madge gives me a little half smile, more like a friendly grimace. I give her an unsure half smile back but keep on walking. I wish she would stop pitying me!

On my way home I pause in the town square and look at the large screen to see what's going on. I hold my breath until I see there has been no fatalities since lunch. I let out my breath in a long, slow, gush.

The television in on the careers who are napping in the sun with Cato on guard. Cato is tossing a large stick around from hand to hand, practicing some combative movies. I let out a long impressed whistle. I've never seen anyone move like that.

Flash over to Foxface, who has, somehow, obtained a spear. She's hunting for fish in a river. So far she in unsuccessful, but this is probably her first time hunting fish. I wonder if she knows that water distorts light, and that she should actually aim a little off to hit a fish.

I assume she doesn't, because she spends a long time aiming her spear directly at the fish. She shoots and misses, but the spear clips the fin of the fish anyway. Foxface pulls the spear up and narrows her eyebrows at the water, she knows she missed and yet somehow hit part of the fish. Perhaps she thinks the fish moved, but she probably didn't see it move. Slowly she takes aim again, only this time she points the spear a little to the right. The throws it and the spear stays upright. Foxface grins to herself and pulls up the spear, which has a small, silver, lifeless fish on the end. Foxface aims and shoots several move times, but doesn't hit anyway. I guess that first fish was beginners luck, but now at least she knows what she's doing.

The television switches over to Katniss who's stumbling, staggering, and breathing heavily though the woods. Her feet, which I'm sure already weigh a ton, are harder to lift as she struggles to move through the mud.

_Mud! _I think. Mud means water, water means Katniss will survive! I smile at the screen, at Katniss. I wonder if Haymitch knew water was only half a day's walk away. I still disapprove of him causing Katniss pain, but I'm comforted by the fact that he had no intention of letting Katniss die.

She collapses in the mud. With a stupid, silly grin, Katniss swirls her fingers around in the wet dirt. _Get up! Use your brain! _I think. She's so close to death she doesn't even realize what's right in front of her can keep her alive.

Suddenly, Katniss' eyes fly open and she digs her hands into the earth. She's lifts her head up and smells the air. I let out a gush of air, knowing that she just bought herself longer to live. Catnip scampers on her hands and knees to the pond, overflowing with flowers and plants, five yards away.

She hassles to pull out her flask and fill it with water. She adds a few drops of iodine to purify it and sits to wait half an hour. I'm glad she chose to be smart and purify the water; the Gamemakers have a sick sense of humor when it comes to natural resources being tampered with.

Katniss drums her fingers on her thigh as she waits what she thinks is half an hour. When the time is up, she slowly takes sip after sip. She leans back against a tree and smiles, drinking more water. She is totally relaxed; she has totally let her guard down. I'm edgy as I watch the screen, waiting to see if someone comes up and attacks her.

I guess the Gamemakers feel she's safe, because the screen switches over to Thresh as he hunts in his field. As much as I would like to analyze the rest of the tributes, I leave the town square to hunt for my, and Katniss', family.

Three hours later I'm sitting down to eat dinner with Ms. Everdeen, Prim, and my family at the Everdeen house. We're having some beef I traded three juicy squirrels for, and some vegetables grown in Ms. Everdeen's garden.

"Did you watch the Games today?" My mother asks. _What? _I think, _of course she watched the games!_

"No, I couldn't…" Ms. Everdeen says. _Oh. _

"Why not?" Rory ask, and I kick him under the table.

"It was too… difficult," She says.

"Well she's still alive," I say.

"Yes, I know, even though today she was very close to death."

"Wouldn't you rather see what happens to her, even if it's hard?" Rory asks, confused at the logic of someone over thirty.

"Rory!" I hush, warning him that he had better be quiet.

"Why would I want to watch my own daughter die?" Ms. Everdeen asks. Rory thinks about it and can't come up with an answer.

"We were going to watch the games this evening on the big screen in town," My mother says kindly, "do you want to come? TO have some support? You really should watch."

"Yeah…" Ms. Everdeen says timidly, "I will. Once we finish up eating I'll clean up and meet you in the town square."

"Okay," my mother says gently.

After we eat Ms. Everdeen insists that she stays home to clean up our mess then she'll meat us in town. On our way there from the Seam, Rory asks, "Why is she so sensitive about the games?"

"Her daughter is in them, she doesn't want to have to watch her be hurt or die," my mother tells him.

"Oh, well can't she just close her eyes if it happens?"

"It's not that easy, Rory."

We get to the town square where it appears that everyone is coming to watch the games and support the Everdeen's. A few people come up and hug or pat Prim on the back. She graciously accepts their condolences without being phased at all.

"How do you do that?" I ask.

"What?"

"Not be… angry… when they pity you?" I'm still working the question out in my mind as I ask it.

"They're just trying to make me feel better. They don't mean any harm," Prim gives me a 'how-can-it-make-you-mad?' look but I turn my attention to the television.

I catch a glimpse of Katniss sipping her water and eating some rabbit in a tree before the camera switches over to Rue.

Rue is also in a tree, an extraordinarily tall pine tree. She's eating some berries and staring out at the arena, daydreaming I guess. I begin to wonder why the camera stays on her when I'm sure some other tribute is doing something more interesting, when I see a flicker of light off in the distance.

Rue sees it too, and craws to the end of her tree branch to get a better view. A orange light is growing off on the other side of the arena.

I'm beginning to realize what it is when the shot cuts to a heard of deer. They prick their ears up and search the forest with their eyes. I can see their nostrils flaring when the fire shows up forty yards away from them.

The deer begin to panic and stampede away. I wonder why the Gamemakers are showing Panem some pointless deer when I see the deer running towards a tree with a big black lumpy sleeping bag in one of the branches.

I stop breathing as Katniss wakes to the thundering of the deer's hooves. Her eyes widen, and I see the reflection of the fire descending on her pupils.

_WOW! I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so SORRY! I think the last time I updated was April, and I can't apologize enough. Please forgive me! I'm also sorry that this chapter was so short. I wanted to keep going through the fire, but I need to read the book to get a refresh on what happens during and directly after. I hope you like it and please review. Again, I'm SO SORRY that it took so long to update! _


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